


Off on a hero's journey

by mozaikmage



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, Gen, Humor, Kiyoko is a Witch, M/M, Quest, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn, Yachi is a Knight, Yachi's Mom is hardcore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozaikmage/pseuds/mozaikmage
Summary: The letter said: Hi Hitoka, I hope you’re doing well. I’m basically fine. I ran into the prince of the north kingdom in the woods and he captured me and is keeping me prisoner for some unknown reason. Maybe he knows I’m engaged to you and wants to get to your mom through me somehow? But that seems convoluted. Anyway I’m not being tortured or anything but that’s where I’m at right now. I DON’T NEED RESCUING because that would be super lame. Tell Hinata I said hi, love you, Tadashi.“We’re going to go rescue him, aren’t we,” Shouyou said.“Yup,” Hitoka said, popping the “p.”





	Off on a hero's journey

**Author's Note:**

> they're [off on a hero's journey, out where adventure lies on a quest the poets will sing about](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xHsAMik9VM%20)  
> (my primary sources of inspiration were galavant and discworld. references to both of those things have been thrown in)  
> thanks to everyone in the haikyuu discord servers for their feedback/encouragement/pushing me to finish this  
> here you go

Hitoka Yachi had  _ told  _ him. She had said, “Tadashi, I’m a hero, you’re a cobbler, if you go on a quest you’re going to get yourself kidnapped or maimed or even killed, and I’ll have to go rescue or avenge you.”

And Tadashi Yamaguchi, her closest friend and now fiancé (she still couldn’t believe that part) had said, “I have to prove myself.”

Hitoka had cringed. “Is it because of my mom?” she’d asked, because Madoka Yachi was pretty intimidating, having taken the throne of The Eastern Kingdom from the Oikawa dynasty without breaking a single nail, and she could understand how Tadashi would feel inadequate around her. But Hitoka’s mother had known him all his life, and she’d sent a letter to Hitoka telling her congratulations on the engagement when it happened, so why would she think Tadashi’s not good enough to marry Hitoka?

Tadashi had smiled then, and shook his head. And then he left. And Hitoka and her squire, Shouyou Hinata, decided to work as guards for a small town until Tadashi got back, because it was easy money and that way Tadashi would know where to find them.

Later Hitoka would wonder about the whole thing. Why she didn’t protest harder. Why she didn’t cry when her  _ fiancé _ said goodbye. Why didn’t she realize...but that came later.

Anyway the point of the matter is, Hitoka TOLD him he was going to get kidnapped, and what happened? Two months after Tadashi set out, and a month after his last letter to Hitoka, the town crier swung by Hitoka’s post at the gate to deliver a letter. The return address said Tadashi Yamaguchi, Castle of the Northern Kingdom.

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,” Hitoka muttered, breaking the seal with her thumbnail and reading the letter. Tadashi’s handwriting was neat and careful, like someone who doesn’t write very often, and he’d drawn faint lines on the paper before starting the letter.

It said:  _ Hi Hitoka, I hope you’re doing well. I’m basically fine. I ran into the prince of the north kingdom in the woods and he captured me and is keeping me prisoner for some unknown reason. Maybe he knows I’m engaged to you and wants to get to your mom through me somehow? But that seems convoluted. Anyway I’m not being tortured or anything but that’s where I’m at right now. _ _ I DON’T NEED RESCUING _ _ because that would be super lame. Tell Hinata I said hi, love you, Tadashi. _

The “I DON’T NEED RESCUING” part was underlined three times. Hitoka sighed and looked at Shouyou, who was reading the letter over her shoulder, leaning against her with one arm. It did bother her a little bit that her squire was taller than her, but he was a helpful and eager apprentice, and excellent company for an activity as monotonous as gate guarding.

“We’re going to go rescue him, aren’t we,” Shouyou said.

“Yup,” Hitoka said, popping the “p.”

They got a map from the local tavern, packed their stuff, and told the captain of the guard something had come up and they had to leave right away. It had been a pretty nice gig, steady pay and barely any real fighting, but as they got on their horses and rode in the general direction of Hitoka’s mother’s castle, Hitoka finally realized that she had been  _ bored. _

Maybe she just missed Tadashi. And she did. It was strange to go from someone always being physically present around you, to the occasional brief letter. Tadashi always made her feel like everything was going to be okay. And now that they were engaged, all she had to do to get strange men to stop talking to her in a tavern was say “I’m engaged” and they’d leave her alone, which was awesome.

“So when you save Yamaguchi, are you gonna marry him?” Shouyou asked her as she rode, and Hitoka almost fell off her horse.

“Not..not right away!” she said, laughing nervously. “We still need to...plan things...save some money...you know?” Shouyou probably didn’t know. Shouyou was a teenager with no romantic prospects to speak of. Hitoka had been that teenager a few years ago, but then her best friend suggested they get married eventually, and she said yes.

Shouyou nodded seriously, and then asked “If you do get married, can I be in the ceremony?”

“Of course, Hinata.”

As a wandering knight, Hitoka Yachi didn’t set out on quests from kings all that often, really. Kings made her nervous. She’d enter tournaments for money, sometimes. That’s where she met Shouyou. Sometimes she’d just ride until she found a nice town, and then asked the people there what she could do to help make their lives better and stay until she felt like leaving. Tadashi always came with her, loyal to a fault. It was a nice life. Her mother approved of it, saying it’s important for a woman to be independent in today’s world.

They’d been on the road for about a day when their path abruptly ended at the sandy beachfront of a lake, too big to go around on horseback. Luckily, there was a stand on the shore selling tickets for some sort of ferry they could take to cross the lake, and they could bring the horses on board.

“Be careful out there,” the ticket seller cautioned them. “There’s some weird shit in the depths.”

“But we’re on a boat?” Shouyou yelled back, but the ticket seller just flipped the booth’s sign from “open” to “closed” and slid the window shut.

The ferry turned out to be large and empty, with one captain and no other passengers besides the two of them. Maybe it was an off-peak hour. The captain introduced himself as Terushima and proceeded to get uncomfortably close to Hitoka, despite Shouyou glaring daggers at him. Hitoka told Terushima she’s engaged to a  _ totally ripped and powerful  _ knight on a quest. Terushima said “He won’t have to know” and slid an arm around her.

Hitoka grabbed his arm and flipped him over, making sure he didn’t land too hard because they still needed him to steer the ferry. Terushima landed on both feet, apparently used to fights like these. A bell rang out somewhere on the shore indicating it was time for the ferry to depart, and Hitoka breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the bell indeed.

With one last glare at Hitoka, Terushima went over to the captain’s bridge, and Hitoka sat down with her squire on a bench in the middle of the ferry, trying not to have her usual post-fight freak out.

It wasn’t that she didn’t  _ like _ to fight, because if that was it she’d have taken up baking or something nonviolent instead. No, what Hitoka didn’t like was that split-second of terror where she was suddenly certain she was going to lose and get herself killed. That split-second was usually enough to get her to push extra hard and end the fight right there, but in the moment, it was miserable. She pulled her knees up to her chest and took deep breaths.

Shouyou poked her in her side. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, and Hitoka nodded. 

“I’m used to it,” she said.

When she’d got her breathing back under control, Hitoka stood up and walked to the railing, hoping to distract herself from her thoughts with some nice scenery. The scenery turned out to not be all that nice. Just trees, mountains, lake. A tiny rowboat some distance away, with a dark figure she couldn’t make out from the deck. The mountains weren’t even very visible, it being a pretty overcast day. She leaned against the railing and stared into the churning water. 

There was a trio of swans swimming in the same direction as the ferry, and for a moment it seemed like they were looking at Hitoka. 

The swans exchanged a look that was altogether too intelligent and too  _ human _ for a bunch of waterfowl. Then in a flurry of flapping wings and splashing waves, the swans were suddenly on the deck. They flipped over themselves, and instead of swans Hitoka and Shouyou were looking at three young men with enormous white bird’s wings instead of arms.

Hitoka’s hand wrapped around the sword she had at her waist, but she didn’t draw it yet. “Hello, um, I’m Hitoka Yachi, knight of the Seven Realms, this is my squire, Hinata...can you please tell us who you are and what you want?”

She glanced at the captain’s bridge, but Terushima just shrugged at her and smirked. He was probably still bitter about their earlier...altercation. Fine. She’ll just deal with it herself. She adjusted her grip on her sword to hold it a little more firmly.

The biggest swan-boy, with brown hair falling into his eyes, looked at Hitoka and said, “We’re going to take your money,” in the same tone of voice someone might use to say the sky is blue.

“But we already paid to cross the lake!” Shouyou protested.

“Ah, but you paid for that on the shore, didn’t you?” said the middle swan-boy, with spiky red hair and a smile Hitoka was pretty sure would be featuring in her nightmares later. “We’re the toll collectors of the lake. Or shape-shifting pirates, if you like.”

“Um, can’t we please talk about this calmly?” Hitoka squeaked. “We could just pay you what we paid for our tickets...that sounds fair, I think...”

His right wing turned into a human arm, and he pulled a knife out of his belt and began to twirl it between his fingers. “Hmm, nah, I don’t think so,” said the red-haired one. “Just give us all your money and valuable items and nobody has to get hurt, really.” The other two swan boys followed suit, the biggest one holding a sword in his left hand, and the smallest one with the surprisingly neat angular haircut brandishing two twin knives. 

Hitoka drew her sword. The big one raised an eyebrow, and the red-haired one grinned.

“What do swan people need money for?” Shouyou blurted out, because Shouyou Hinata never did learn when to keep quiet. “Like, if you just live on the lake, what’re you going to buy with your money? Do you have houses underwater or something? Why would you bother having houses if you can just be a swan and sleep outside like swans do?”

The swan boys exchanged a look.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” the small one said, uncertainly. 

“I personally spend my share on magazine subscriptions and ice cream from the soft-serve place on the lakefront,” said the red-haired one, grinning obnoxiously. “No idea what Wakatoshi does with his share.”

The big one, presumably Wakatoshi, just shrugged.

“You’re the least convincing pirates I’ve ever met!” Shouyou declared.

“How many pirates  _ have  _ you met, little boy?” the red-haired one fired back. “Shouldn’t someone your age be in school right now? Where are your parents?”

“I’M 18 YEARS OLD, JERKS!” Hitoka didn’t even have to look at her squire to know that he was pulling out the small but sharp dagger she let him carry.

While they were talking, Hitoka had quietly walked around behind the three swan boys, grabbed the smallest one by his shoulders, and flipped him over the railing, smacking him with the flat of her sword to make sure he stayed down. The boy turned back into a bird and made indignant hissing noises, flapping his wings noisily.

Hitoka generally tried to avoid killing people, even bird people, so she just hit him on his tiny bird head with the flat part of her blade again and this time the swan tumbled into the waves below. Bye, swan boy. 

Now it was a much more manageable two-against-two battle. Even though one side was considerably taller, and more buff, and could turn into swans. Shouyou had an almost suicidal kind of bravery and confidence that he could win any fight he got into, and Hitoka had...a desperate desire to not die today.

Hitoka Yachi did not fight according to rules. She was small and slight, and as such had to take any advantage she could get. She slashed and jabbed and kicked and punched and sometimes bit. She tripped the spiky red-haired one and when he was about to fall backward, spun him around so he fell off the side of the ferry like the first swan boy. 

The biggest one turned out to be the most resilient, standing firm despite dozens of cuts and bruises from Shouyou. When Hitoka tried to flip him over, he grabbed her by her wrists and threw her over the railing instead.

Hitoka thought:  _ Is this what flying feels like?  _

And then:  _ Oh fucking shit, I don’t know how to swim.  _

She reached out and tried to grab onto the railing, or the side of the boat or  _ something _ , but nope. Hitoka Yachi kept falling. The water splashed up into her face, and she managed to reorient herself so she would at least hit the water feet first instead of headfirst. That was supposed to be safer, right? She didn’t really know.

_ This was a mistake, this was at least seven mistakes, why did I get myself into this situation oh shit oh shit oh-wait what.  _ Because all of a sudden, Hitoka felt herself slowing down instead of speeding up. Her feet gently landed on something solid and wooden. She was standing in a tiny rowboat. The prettiest girl Hitoka had ever seen, in a midnight blue gown and pointed witch’s hat, smiled gently at her, and then gestured upwards. The witch’s hands were glowing blue. Hitoka had never seen a witch casting a spell before.

She looked up and Shouyou was falling on top of her, carrying their bags like a good squire. The witch’s magic slowed them all down so that he, like Hitoka, landed in the boat with barely a sound. Still smiling reassuringly, the witch pointed at the end of the rowboat, and it sped up, hurtling across the lake and leaving a streak of bubbly foam in its wake.

“I saw those swans land on your ferry, and thought you might need some help,” the witch said. “I’m Kiyoko Shimizu. And you are?”

“H-h-h-” Hitoka closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. “Hitoka Yachi! Traveling knight! On a quest! This is my squire, Hinata.”

Hinata bowed with enthusiasm. The rowboat wobbled a bit.

“How interesting,” Kiyoko said. She took off her hat, and Hitoka choked on air again now that Kiyoko’s face was out of the shadows and she could see just how beautiful the witch was in clear, broad daylight. How could one person have eyes so blue and sparkly, and hair so long, and skin so clear?

Kiyoko was looking at her expectantly, and that’s when Hitoka realized she’d been asked a question. 

“Uh,” Hitoka said intelligently. And Kiyoko smiled, like she didn’t mind that Hitoka had totally zoned out while she was talking.

“May I ask what sort of quest you’re on?” Kiyoko repeated. Oh. Duh.

Hitoka rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Well, um, my fiancé, Tadashi, got himself kidnapped and trapped by the Prince of the Northern Kingdom. He’s not a knight, actually, barely knows how to hold a sword, but he decided he should go ‘prove he’s worthy of me’ or whatever, and now we have to go save him, haha.” She risked a glance at Kiyoko’s expression then, but the other girl didn’t appear to be laughing at her or her predicament, she just seemed interested in Hitoka’s story. “Um. Here’s the letter he wrote me, if you want to see it,” Hitoka said, pulling the letter out of her pocket. “He said not to rescue him but like, who else is going to, right?”

“He’s been my best friend since we were little,” Hitoka continued, glancing at Shouyou for affirmation. “I can’t just let him disappear from my life without doing everything I can to prevent it.”

Kiyoko was silent for a few moments, then said, “I’m glad you have someone like that.” Was Hitoka imagining it, or was there disappointment in the witch’s voice? No, she was definitely imagining it.

“Anyway!” Hitoka said, face heating. “Where are you going?”

“I’m actually from the Northern Kingdom. I’m on my way home from an event. Have you heard of the Witch Trials?”

“The series of hearings and prosecutions in which nonconforming members of small insular communities were tried and executed for witchcraft?” 

Kiyoko blinked. “...The other Witch Trials.”

“The one where witches gather from all over the continent to show off their skills and compete magically?”

“Yes, those. I don’t usually compete, but I enjoy the opportunity to meet and talk to other witches every so often. I live in a town on the border of the Northern and Eastern kingdoms, and I’m the only witch around for miles.” Kiyoko pushed a lock of her (perfect) hair behind her ear and looked down. “It’s nice because I get a lot of business, but it’s also kind of lonely.”

They’d almost reached the other shore of the lake by then, and the enchanted rowboat was slowing down. Kiyoko flexed her fingers and muttered under her breath to ensure a smooth landing for the three of them. Hitoka wished she could do things like that. 

They climbed out of the boat and grabbed their stuff and Hitoka was stammering out how grateful she was to Kiyoko for rescuing her when Shouyou suddenly jumped up and said, “Hey! Why don’t you come with us, Miss Kiyoko? We’re going in the same direction! Yachi’s mom is the queen of the Eastern Kingdom now, so we’re stopping by her castle and then going on to the north. We should pass through your hometown on the way, and we can drop you off there, no problem!”

“Hinata, that’s not your decision to make,” Hitoka hisses at him, because he’s her  _ squire  _ dang it he’s not allowed to take the initiative yet. “But I agree. Would you like to? Come with us, I mean. I’m sure it’s more efficient to go by broomstick or however you witches travel, but...” Hitoka took a deep breath, because for some reason it felt like she was putting her heart on the line with her next sentence. “I think you might have more fun traveling with us.”

Kiyoko gave the two of them a long look, and for a horrible moment Hitoka thought she might say no. Instead, Kiyoko asked, “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable broomsticks are? You’re essentially sitting on a long, hard stick for hours on end, while it’s cold and windy in the high altitude, while trying not to fall off.” She snapped her fingers, and the now-empty rowboat shrank and shifted into a broomstick shape. “So, no, Hitoka, Hinata, I do not mind traveling with you two.”

Hitoka grinned.

They all looked back on the lake, where the ferry was still approaching the shore.

“Maybe we should get some horses soon though,” Shouyou suggested.

“Good idea.”

 

Meanwhile...

Tadashi Yamaguchi was being treated pretty well, for someone supposedly a prisoner of The Northern Kingdom. The Prince who captured him, Kei of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Tsukishima, had decided not to keep him in the dungeon and has given him free reign of the castle as long as he “didn’t get in the way.” He was also required to eat meals with the royal family, and sometimes the prince would send a servant to fetch him for some sort of activity.

Tadashi vaguely suspected that the Ice Prince of the North, as he was called, was just really lonely and bad at making friends in a normal fashion, but he wasn’t about to tell him that. 

They’d run into each other in the woods a few weeks before. Kei took one look at him and said, “Guards! Take him.” And so they did. Tadashi had some questions, but everyone ignored them, until he was dropped into a guest chamber at the castle and told that he was not allowed to leave.

The head of the Royal Guard, Kageyama, did not get along well with Prince Kei, so Tadashi often found himself mediating between them. Their interactions went like this:

Kei would try to go into town to avoid an unpleasant royal duty, like sitting for a portrait, and take Tadashi with him.

Kageyama, at his post in front of the gate, would say something like “Your brother told me you can’t leave until the portrait’s done, Your Highness.”

Kei would say something like, “How do you know it’s not done already?”

And then Kageyama would say something that wasn’t intended to be offensive but would mortally offend Kei anyway, and Kei would try to fire him, and Kageyama would remind Kei that he can’t fire him because he’s been trying to get Kageyama fired since the day he started working at the castle and Kageyama is too good at his job for the King to let him go. And then Kei would huff and announce that he’d changed his mind, they were going to go to the shooting range and practice archery instead. 

One of the targets had Kageyama’s face painted on it. That target got the most use. (The other targets had the faces of various other nobles, including the recently-dethroned Tooru Oikawa.)

Kageyama would then point out that Kei still needed to sit for the portrait, and that’s when Tadashi would step in to prevent either of them from punching the other. 

Prince Kei was renowned throughout the seven realms for being tall and handsome and intelligent. Before the...Tadashi hesitated to call it a kidnapping, it felt more like a forceful invitation. Before The Incident, Tadashi had encountered Prince Kei once, years ago. The Tsukishimas were traveling through the village he and Hitoka were living in at the time. Their mother, the queen regent at the time, was traveling in a carriage, but Kei and Akiteru rode on horseback behind the carriage, smiling and waving at the starstruck peasants. Or, Akiteru was smiling and waving, Kei was glaring. Even as a dorky tweenager he had a powerful glare. 

Then, that glare landed on Tadashi, and for a single heart-stopping moment he found himself making direct eye contact with The Ice Prince. The prince’s eyes widened slightly and his glare was replaced by a look of slight confusion. Which Tadashi didn’t understand.

But for a long time after that, he found himself going back to that moment, in his dreams.

Anyway, Kei was renowned for being handsome and intelligent, but if the public knew what Tadashi had discovered over the past few weeks his reputation would crumble. Prince Kei had read every book on dragons and lizards in the castle library and had never heard of a functional sleep schedule in his life. He was rude, but in a way that people called “forthright” because he was a prince. 

He also ate strawberry shortcake for every single meal. Seriously. No vegetables. No meat. No anything resembling a healthy diet. Tadashi didn’t say anything about it for three days, waiting to see if maybe Kei was going to switch it up soon, but when it became apparent that he did, in fact, eat strawberry shortcake for every meal, every day, Tadashi decided to go and have a quiet word with the chef.

The chef laughed in his face. “You think His Majesty and the Queen Regent haven’t tried to get the prince to eat better? I’ve tried making a ‘strawberry shortcake’ out of meat and mashed potatoes, baking cauliflower into the batter, but even just adding another kind of berry to the cake will lead to Kei demanding it be thrown out.”

“How is he still alive?”   
“It’s one of the mysteries of the universe, kid.”

The chef gave Tadashi a muffin and told him it’s cute that he tried.

When he confronted Kei, the prince huffed and said, “What’s the point of being royalty if I can’t just eat whatever I want, whenever I want?”

Tadashi broke off a piece of his muffin and gave it to Kei with a look. Kei took the muffin bit and examined it like an alchemist would examine an interesting piece of quartz. 

“What kind of muffin is this?” he asked, sniffing it.

“Cranberry walnut. It’s pretty good,” Tadashi said, smiling in a manner he hoped was encouraging. It was the same smile he used when he was trying to convince Hitoka to talk to someone she was scared of, and that usually worked.

Kei looked at him, then back to the muffin. Then at Tadashi again.

Kei took the rest of Tadashi’s half-eaten muffin and shoved the whole thing in his mouth, then gave the broken-off bit back to Tadashi.

“Wh...what was the point of that?” 

Kei just smirked at him and walked away.

 

“Your Highness?”

Kei sighed through his nose like the question personally offended him. “What is it, Yamaguchi?”

“Um...Why did you...kidnap me? Or I guess my real question is, when can I leave?”

“You’ll be allowed to leave when I tell you you can leave,” Kei said. 

He didn’t answer the first part.

 

_ Hi Hitoka, hope you’re doing okay. I still haven’t figured out what Kei wants with me. I think he might just be lonely. I’m pretty much allowed to do whatever except I can’t leave. He eats strawberry shortcake all the time and had a dragon phase when he was a kid. It’s kind of weird. His brother the king is nice though.  _

_ I miss having conversations with people who don’t think being royalty lets them get away with everything. I still don’t need to be rescued, but it’d be nice if you could just visit for a little bit. Which I understand doesn’t make sense because if you could do that you could also just rescue me, haha. Tell Hinata I said hi. Love you, Tadashi. _

 

Hitoka read the letter during breakfast, in a no-name village somewhere in the Eastern kingdom. Their map was pretty vague, only labeling a few big cities and natural landmarks in each realm.  Nevertheless, the post carrier had somehow heard of Hitoka Yachi from her tournament days and delivered the letter straight into her hands when he saw her checking out of the inn they’d stayed in. What a stroke of luck that was.

“Is that from him? Your fiancé?” Kiyoko asked, sipping her tea in a way that seemed elegant and refined, even though the mug was crude and cracked in places.

“Ah, yeah,” Hitoka replied, feeling weirdly flustered and embarrassed. “He says he’s okay. Misses me. You know. Hinata, Tadashi says hi.”

“Tell him I say hi back!” Shouyou yelled with his mouth full, spraying porridge all over the table.

Her relationship with Tadashi was...well. She didn’t know how to talk about it, except that she got the vague impression something was not quite right. Maybe it was just her usual anxiety working overtime, the constant feeling that the entire universe was just a few degrees off. The transition from “best friends” to “engaged” happened with absolutely negliglible changes in what the two of them actually did together. They were getting married because it was What You Did when you reached a certain age and your mothers were asking about grandchildren and you realized marriage was good for tax purposes. 

She didn’t want to think about that right now though. 

“I heard the post carrier talking about how there’s a market set up in the next town over today, do you mind if we stopped there? I need to buy some things,” Kiyoko said.

“Witch things?” Shouyou asked.

“Sort of? Medicine things. In case one of us gets injured or sick on the way.”

“Medicine shouldn’t be a witch thing,” Shouyou decided as they got on their horses and set out. “It should be an everyone thing.”

“I mean, doctors exist, so...” Hitoka trailed off.

“The one in my town overcharges, so most people go to me first and only go to the doctor if I can’t fix it,” Kiyoko said. Her voice was soft, and she didn’t seem to talk a lot naturally, but something about the way she said things made Hitoka listen. Like the words reached her at her core.

They’d been traveling together for about three days at this point, and it was fine. Nobody was at each other’s throats, nobody was ready to kill anyone else for snoring too loud. Hitoka had been traveling with Shouyou for too long to be bothered by his myriad quirks, and Kiyoko didn’t seem like she was bothered by  _ anything. _

Except for when she slapped a man in the tavern yesterday for pinching her butt. That was beautiful and frightening all at once.

They got to the market town with no problems and parked their horses. Kiyoko made a beeline for the medicine stall, and Shouyou stopped to talk to a guy selling colorful handmade children’s toys while running some gambling games on the side. The man had a thick glove on one arm, and a horned owl perched on it, hooting amiably. He was pretty, if a man could be called pretty, with wavy dark hair and long lashes.

Hitoka stopped next to her squire, because she did not trust Shouyou Hinata not to get sucked into a crooked Find-the-Lady game. 

“Your bird is cute! Can I pet it?” Shouyou asked.

The bird flapped its wings, and its human sighed and said “If you must.”

“It’s so soft...” Shouyou said, marveling at the feel of the feathers under his fingertips. “What’s your name?”

“Akaashi,” the human said, and Shouyou gave him a look and said, “That’s a weird name for an owl.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes and said “The owl’s Bokuto. Koutarou Bokuto.” Bokuto nipped at his sleeve, and Akaashi furiously whispered to the bird for a few seconds.

“Ha, it almost seemed like he understood what you were saying there,” Shouyou said.

“Almost,” Akaashi repeated, deadpan. “Anyway, would you like to play a game?”

“No,” Hitoka stepped in. “Hinata doesn’t know how to play anything.”

“How do you know that?” Shouyou pouted at her. “I can play poker!”

“Not with sketchy street vendors you can’t,” Hitoka snapped. “You are going to lose all of our money, and we’ll have to live on dandelion leaves and rain water until we get to my mom’s castle, and it will be all your fault.”

Akaashi seemed to perk up slightly at that. “First of all, I am not sketchy, second of all, your mother has a castle? Third of all, my games are all very beginner friendly, I assure you.”

The owl bit his sleeve again, and Akaashi sighed. “And if you win, I’ll let you pet Bokuto again.” Bokuto hooted in approval.

And then Shouyou gave Hitoka his best puppy-dog eyes and before she knew it, it was an hour later and the two of them were standing in front of a table with Shouyou’s empty rucksack on the table, and also his boots.

Hitoka’s coin purse had also been mysteriously emptied in the process. She hadn’t wanted to participate at all, but Shouyou’s puppy-dog eyes were...extremely potent.

Kiyoko wandered up to them, having purchased her medicine things and had an informative and interesting conversation with the seller, and Hitoka found herself ready to burst into flame with embarrassment. She let Kiyoko down. She let Shouyou down too, by not being firmer with him. They were going to have to live on dandelion leaves and rain water until they got to her mother’s castle and it was  _ all entirely her fault.  _ It was all Hitoka could do not to cry.

“What’s happening here?” Kiyoko asked. She and Akaashi nodded at each other, like they were acquaintances or something. Maybe they were both part of some sort of club for supernaturally beautiful people.

Or, Hitoka thought, tilting her head to one side and smiling as Bokuto the strangely intelligent owl mirrored her movement, maybe Akaashi was a witch too. Maybe Bokuto was his familiar. Did witches usually have familiars? 

“Alright, then,” Kiyoko said to herself, and then put down a coin. “I’d like to play a game.”

Watching Kiyoko do anything at all made Hitoka think of serene nature scenes for some reason, and Kiyoko playing cards reminded her of a smoothly flowing river, lit by moonlight. She’d look at her cards for a few seconds, then put them face down in front of her. She’d spotted the marks on the deck and made Akaashi open a brand new deck of cards from his stock of toys and games. She took slightly too long to make each move, and never bet too much, or took risks.

“Are you using magic?” Shouyou whisper-shouted, as Akaashi grimly slid a coin towards her, and Kiyoko shook her head. “Lady Luck doesn’t look too kindly on people who use magic in games of chance, and by that I mean she’d blast me into ashes.” 

By the end of the first round, most of the pile of coins in front of Akaashi had migrated towards Kiyoko, and Akaashi’s left eye was twitching a little. 

Shouyou had recovered his boots and his rucksack first and foremost, and was showering Kiyoko in apologies and congratulations while she slowly turned pinker and pinker.

If Hitoka didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn the owl was laughing.

The market day was almost over, and people were packing up their tables around them, but Kiyoko and Akaashi were still playing. A small crowd had begun to gather, watching the two of them stare at each other impassively, giving nothing away about their hands. He’d given her a chair after the first round, when it became clear she wasn’t going to leave until she’d won back all their stuff. Kiyoko sat up straight, legs crossed at her ankles and cards held close to her face.

The man looked at his cards and raised Kiyoko two dollars.

Kiyoko let the silence stretch for a few tense moments, then said, “I’ll raise you five dollars.”

“I’ll see you and raise you ten.”

“Fifteen.”

“Twenty.”

Kiyoko’s expression flickered for half a second, then she said, “I’ve got a broomstick.”

Akaashi blinked at that, and then put down a straight flush. “You can’t beat that.”

Kiyoko smiled. “Looks like I just did.” She carefully laid her royal flush down on top of Akaashi’s cards, and the man let his composure slip to say a rude word.

It was at that moment that Hitoka realized with perfect clarity that Kiyoko Shimizu could rule the seven realms, Hell, the entire planet, if she wanted to. The fact that Kiyoko had this incredible power and then didn’t use it was what made her so incredible.

Kiyoko leaned in towards Akaashi and said, matter-of-factly, “You owe me thirty-five dollars and a broomstick, but I’m prepared to negotiate on the broomstick. Also, Hinata wants to pet the owl.”

It was at that moment that the owl did a backflip and landed behind the table as a human man with vaguely owl-like spiked gray hair. Akaashi sighed, like he’d seen this a million times before.

Shouyou stared for a bit with wide eyes and an open mouth, and then stuck his hand out to touch the now human Bokuto’s hair. “Aw, it’s not as soft as your feathers,” he said, disappointed.

“I know! Sucks, right? Small price to pay, though. I’m Koutarou Bokuto! I was supposed to be selling the toys while Akaashi did his gambling thing, but then you showed up and I didn’t want to distract you by shifting when you were in the middle of a game. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner. You!” He pointed at Kiyoko.

Kiyoko blinked. “Me?”

“Yeah! You’re awesome at poker. Where’d you learn to play?”

Kiyoko closed her eyes for a moment, remembering. “My friends from home, Suga and Daichi, run an inn together. When we were teenagers, Suga decided he was going to become the best card player in the world, and made both of us practice with him.” She opened her eyes, looking fondly exasperated. “All the time.”

Akaashi looked at Bokuto. “Can’t imagine what that must be like,” he deadpanned. Bokuto elbowed him in response. 

“Anyway! That’s impressive! You’re impressive!” Bokuto announced. He turned to his partner and whisper-shouted, “Don’t kill them please, they seem nice.”

Akaashi looked down at the dagger he had pulled out from under the table and sighed again. Bokuto beamed. Hitoka surreptitiously adjusted her sword on her hip to make it easier to retrieve later, just in case.

“Do you want to get dinner with us? We’re friends with the owner of the tavern here.” Akaashi gave him a look. “Well, I’m friends with him, and Akaashi doesn’t hate him, so that averages out to both of us being friends with him.”

“Bokuto, that’s not how it works.”

“Is too!”

“Is no-you know what, let’s just pack up here.”

“We can help!” Shouyou offered immediately, and both of the shopkeepers brushed him off, Akaashi saying he’d put everything in the wrong places and Bokuto saying they got it.

Hitoka could hear Akaashi mumbling “And for the record, I don’t  _ not-hate  _ Konoha, I like Konoha. He’s sensible.”

The Owls’ Hollow turned out to be surprisingly picturesque, placed on the edge of a ledge overlooking a river. The aforementioned Konoha introduced himself when they walked in and gave them all free tea.

“Like I said, he’s sensible.” Akaashi poured five cups of green tea out of the clay pot, while Bokuto got Shouyou spilling his and Hitoka’s entire life story to the group.

“And then these HUGE SWANS landed on our boat, and then they turned into people! Like you do, Mr. Bokuto! Except they were pirates and tried to steal our money.”

“Technically, so did we,” Akaashi pointed out, completely unashamed. “Although it wasn’t stealing, more cheating and swindling.” 

“They were a lot meaner about it,” Hitoka added, letting her head droop onto the wooden table. It had been a long day, and her face was sunburned from sitting outside for hours on end watching her compatriots alternately lose and win at card games. “That one guy threw me overboard. Good thing Kiyoko was there to save me.” She picked her head up to flash the other girl a tired smile. Kiyoko’s face turned slightly pink.

Bokuto and Akaashi exchanged a look at this, but didn’t say anything. Konoha brought over their orders, and Akaashi insisted on paying the tab for Hitoka’s group “In place of the broomstick,” he explained, and Kiyoko nodded her approval.

“May I see your map?” Akaashi asked, and Hitoka passed it over. He made a “tch” noise, and Bokuto handed him a pencil without him even needing to ask.

“Your map kinda sucks, doesn’t it?” Bokuto said. “Akaashi and I have been roaming around the Eastern Kingdom for ages now, and we know people in every village around. We were invited to have dinner with the Grand King Oikawa once. Though I guess he’s just Tooru, now. Poor guy.”

Shouyou and Hitoka looked at each other, because in Shouyou’s epic retelling of their life stories, he forgot to mention that Hitoka’s mother was the one who took the throne from him.

Akaashi had written in some more town names and traced a different route to the Northern Castle over the one already plotted out, making notes like “impossibly dense forest here” and “really annoying highwaymen here, but Bokuto’s friends with their leader so could be worse I guess.”

“Bokuto was invited to dine with the Grand King because of his shapeshifting abilities, and he took me along as his date for the evening.” Akaashi reddened slightly. “I was not aware that he meant  _ an actual date  _ at the time.”

“He nicked the silverware and some of His Majesty’s jewelry without him noticing, and now we’re blacklisted from the castle!” Bokuto finished, beaming with pride. He lowered his voice and wiggled his eyebrows a little. “And we still totally smooched later, so! A successful night, all in all. Hey, Akaashi, do you think the new queen’s blacklisted us too?”

“Should we tell them?” Shouyou whispered, and Hitoka was frozen with indecision for a few moments before deciding that, yes, she did trust these dubiously ethical bird boys.

“I d-don’t think you would be blacklisted. Because...the new queen’s my mother.”

Akaashi’s eyes lit up. “So that’s what you meant when you said your mother had a castle! Can we come along? I promise not to steal anything, I just want to meet her. The woman who led the most peaceful coup of the century...”

Bokuto pulled on his sleeve gently. “Babe, we’re still due to meet up with the Itachiyama gang at the Southern Port next week, we won’t be able to make it in time if we go all the way to the Oikawa Castle and then back. Is it still called the Oikawa castle?”

Hitoka nodded. “Y-yeah. Mom likes to honor tradition. She said it helps rub some salt in the wound.” She paused. “My mother means well most of the time.”   
Akaashi stabbed the map with his pencil at a point a few hours north of where they were right now. Hitoka suddenly realized they’d wasted a full day of traveling on first the market day and now, making friends with a con artist and a shapeshifter. “There’s a three headed dragon here. He doesn’t usually eat people, but he does require a toll to cross his road, and he’s also kind of annoying. Still, this is the fastest route by at least half a day, so I recommend dealing with him anyway.”

“A three headed dragon!” Shouyou exclaimed. “Amazing!”

“A three headed dragon,” Hitoka echoed faintly. “Wonderful.”

“A three headed dragon,” Kiyoko said, sounding thoughtful. “Dragon scales are good for blood thinning potions, I shall have to ask if he’s willing to sell me a few.”

Akaashi blinked slowly. “This dragon has an...interesting personality,” he said, and didn’t elaborate further.

They ended up talking late into the night. Mostly Bokuto and Shouyou talked, and sometimes Hitoka would be prompted by her inner sense of “you’ve been quiet for too long and everyone noticed you’re not actually contributing to the conversation just say SOMETHING” and throw in a nervous anecdote from her travels. Kiyoko didn’t say much, but by this point Hitoka was beginning to realize that that’s just how she was. Akaashi usually spoke in response to something his partner said, as if following a long-established rhythm. 

Hitoka watched as the dark-haired man put his head on Bokuto’s shoulder and leaned against him like the huge, muscled shapeshifting owl was just a very large pillow. Bokuto ruffled his hair and kissed his partner, quickly and gently, an everyday sort of kiss. Hitoka averted her eyes.

It’s not like she didn’t know people were... _ like that. _ She just...wasn’t like that. She was engaged to a boy. So what if she and Tadashi never kissed each other? She’s used him as a pillow before, even though Tadashi was long and skinny and not a very comfortable pillow human. Kiyoko...Hitoka looked at the other girl, who was picking at a pastry as the group emptied their fifth pot of tea that night. Kiyoko was long and thin, too, but she seemed softer.

A vision of her head in between Kiyoko’s breasts popped into Hitoka’s brain for half a second and she choked on her tea. 

Everyone stared at her as she coughed and spluttered, which was Hitoka’s least favorite thing to happen. Both the everyone-staring-at-her thing and the nearly-drowning-on-dry-land thing, together. “Are you okay?” Kiyoko asked, concern written all over her face.

“Fine! Super fine, haha. You were saying?” Hitoka propped her head up in one hand and did her best to look interested in Bokuto’s excited retelling of yet another heist story, while also trying her best to think of literally anything but the girl sitting next to her.

Bokuto, hospitable to a fault, insisted on reserving them rooms at the local inn, and then made Akaashi promise not to kill them and steal all their valuables while they slept.    
“They’re our friends now, and we do not steal things from our friends,” Bokuto said cheerfully.

“We stole things from Oikawa though.”

“Yeah but he’s  _ Oikawa,  _ it doesn’t count.”

Hitoka had never met the Oikawa formerly known as the Grand King, but from what her mother let slip in her letters and the owl boy’s stories, she was beginning to form a certain mental image.

The room had two beds. There were three of them. 

Hitoka, faced with the prospect of sharing a bed with a teenager who kicked in his sleep or a witch who she couldn’t make eye contact with anymore, and in possession of a bedroll, made an executive decision.

“I’ll sleep on the floor!” She blurted out immediately upon opening the door to the room.

“No way,  _ Lady  _ Yachi,” Shouyou said, breaking out the title Hitoka only really used for tournaments. (Her full title was Lady Yachi of the White Lily, Knight of the Seven Realms, but even just being called a Lady made her a little uncomfortable, so she tried to avoid bringing that up as much as possible.) “Ladies should sleep on beds! You too, Miss Kiyoko.”

Hitoka acquiesced, because if she was being honest she was pretty tired and the bed looked a lot softer than the floor.

She dreamed of lips on hers, and pulling on long, dark hair, and woke up in the middle of the night shaky and sweaty.

 

They woke early the next morning and were on the road well before noon. They got breakfast in Konoha’s tavern again, and Bokuto stopped by to bid them farewell. He was dragging Akaashi by his arm. Akaashi’s eyes were still closed and he was mumbling something about death to sunshine.

“Keiji’s not much of a morning person,” Bokuto said in a stage whisper. “I think he stayed up late reading again. He does that sometimes, because he’s a  _ nerd. _ ”

“I’m not a nerd, shut your face and just inject the coffee straight into my bloodstream. Is medical science advanced enough yet for that to be possible. I don’t care, I’m dying anyway,” Akaashi mumbled, still not opening his eyes.

Kiyoko looked at him consideringly, then flicked her fingers in his direction. A wave of blue mist hit Akaashi in the face, and he blinked a few times. The dark circles had vanished from under his eyes, and he looked a lot more alert.

“Huh. I feel better now. Thanks. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s good to know you’re human underneath all that greed,” Shouyou said amiably.

“I know what I want in life, which is more than most people can say,” Akaashi replied, and accepted a cup of coffee (no milk, four sugars) from Konoha.

“Tell that dragon he owes me ten bucks,” Akaashi called after them, when they finally left.

“Have you ever met a three-headed dragon before?” Shouyou asked Kiyoko. (He knew Hitoka hadn’t, because he’d been her squire for like four years at this point and if Hitoka had ever had any exciting monster encounters he’d know by now.)

“Not one with three heads. There was a dragon at the Witch Trials last year, invited by someone as a friend. Not all breeds of dragons are sentient, but that one was. He ran the barbecue stand for the weekend, which was very nice of him.”

Shouyou nodded thoughtfully at this.

The dragon, when they finally met him, was mottled with red and orange scales, and large enough to block the entire road they’re traveling on, to the extent that they couldn’t just go around him. Each of his three heads had a different pattern of horns, with the middle head having a row of spikes running down the center of it like an extra-sharp mohawk, and the head on the left having one big horn in the center of its forehead like a scaly unicorn. The head on the right had no horns at all.

“Well, well, well,” the head on the right said. “What do we have here?”

“Three travelers, seeking safe passage across this road.”

The three heads all exchanged a glance at this, and in a swift, united motion, leaned towards Kiyoko. Kiyoko had no outward reaction to this, as though they were a circling bumblebee and not three giant carnivorous lizard heads with pointy teeth and the capability to tear her to shreds.

“I think you mean, two travelers and a goddess,” the head on the left said. “What’s your name, O Fairest One?”

“Yuu, why are you talking like that,” hissed the middle head.

“Faces like hers make me poetic, what can I say.”

“Amen to that,” the head on the right put in.    
They didn’t speak exactly in tandem, but there was barely a pause between when one head finished speaking and the next continued.

“So do you three share a consciousness, or are you three minds in one body, or how does this whole three-heads thing work actually?” While the dragon was talking to himself, Kiyoko had reached into her traveling bag and pulled out her field notebook and a pencil and was scribbling notes about the dragon already.

The heads exchanged another look and then shrugged their collective shoulders.

“You didn’t answer our question,” the head on the left pointed out.

Kiyoko rolled her eyes a bit, but finally said, “I’m Kiyoko Shimizu, witch, these are my...friends?”

Hitoka nodded and Shouyou gave her a thumbs-up, and Kiyoko smiled. “These are my friends, Lady Yachi and her squire, Hinata.”

“Cool. We’re a dragon,” all three heads said in unison. The one on the left introduced itself as Yuu, the middle as Tora, and the right one as Ryuu.

“We don’t completely share a hivemind, I think? But we also kind of do. I dunno, it’s weird,” Tora said.

“But enough about us, what’s your story, Kiyoko darling?”

Kiyoko’s eyes flashed angrily for a split second. “Don’t call me that.” All three heads leaned back as if attacked, and then leaned towards each other and yelled, “SHE TOLD US OFF!”

“Please, Kiyoko, scold us more,” Ryuu said, making a pleading expression. Kiyoko glared at him.   
Watching Kiyoko made Hitoka think of serene nature scenes usually, but Kiyoko’s expression at this was like watching lightning strike a tree in a storm. Powerful, breathtaking, an act of God. She could almost understand why the dragon was begging Kiyoko to scold it more.

Kiyoko looked at her traveling companions. Hitoka already had her sword drawn, ready to start cutting heads off if necessary.

“We just want to cross this road,” Hitoka said, calmly and evenly. “Also Keiji Akaashi, I don’t know if you remember him, he says you owe him ten bucks.”

The heads scowled. “Fucker totally cheats at cards,” Tora said, but the dragon promised to pay him back before Akaashi left town.

“Here’s an idea,” Yuu said, smiling and revealing a very large mouth filled with a very large quantity of pointy teeth. “You two go on your way for free, and Kiyoko stays here with us and lives in our cave. It’s a really nice cave, I promise. We’ve got indoor plumbing and shit.”

“You’ll have every comfort you could possibly want, and all we require in exchange is the ability to admire your beautiful face every day for the rest of your natural life,” Ryuu added.

Kiyoko glared at him some more.

Hitoka looked at Kiyoko for the first time that day, even though it made her feel like she had the flu. “Kiyoko, do you want to live with this dragon for the rest of your natural life?”

“No.” Her response was immediate and harsh, a whip-crack of a word. The dragon didn’t look particularly surprised or upset by this, however.

Hitoka moved closer to the dragon and raised her sword. “Did you hear that?”

The dragon backed away, even though Hitoka’s sword was about the size of four chopsticks taped together relevant to the size of the dragon. “Heard you loud and clear!”

“You  _ will  _ let us pass, you  _ will  _ pay Akaashi back, and you  _ will  _ give Kiyoko some dragon scales for her potion work,” Hitoka growled. “Or I will cut each of your heads off one by one.”

“Yikes,” said Yuu.

“She looked so cute and blonde but like, damn,” Tora added.

Hitoka blinked, then pulled a lock of her hair in front of her eyes to make sure she was in fact still cute and blonde. Was the dragon impressed or horrified? She never could tell.

Then she remembered each of those heads could probably just pick her up and swallow her whole. Or pick her up and tear her into pieces, and then swallow the pieces. Why they were letting her threaten them with a tiny little people sword was beyond her.

There was a pause as the three heads turned to each other and conferred. Finally, they looked back at the humans in front of them.

“Okay, so our standard rate’s a dollar per person, but Kiyoko’s a goddess and you’re scary, so you guys can go for free.”

“Hinata goes for free too,” Hitoka said, before her brain could catch up with her. 

“Yeah!” Shouyou yelled.

“Fine, you all can go, maybe Akaashi can count this towards our tab since you guys are friends right?”

“Ryuu, Akaashi will never count a favor towards another person as paying off a tab.”

“Well, it was worth a try.”

The right claw of the dragon scratched up and down its side, and came away with a few scales in its talons. “Here are the scales. Please think of us whenever you use them.”

Kiyoko bowed, holding her pointed hat on her head with one hand. “We are grateful for your kindness.”

“SHE SPOKE TO US,” all three heads exclaimed. “WE ARE SO BLESSED ON THIS DAY.”

So they continued.

  
  


Prince Kei had, to everyone’s collective shock, started eating food besides strawberry shortcake. To everyone’s collective confusion and Tadashi’s dismay, Prince Kei restricted himself to food stolen off of Tadashi’s plate, preferably after Tadashi himself had already taken a few bites of it. As a result, the two of them ended up staying at the dinner table longer than everyone else, and sitting a lot closer together than they would be otherwise.

When Prince Kei wasn’t demanding Tadashi’s attention, Tadashi was free to do whatever he wanted. He explored the library, fed the palace’s horses, talked to His Majesty King Akiteru a couple of awkward times, and made a brave attempt to befriend Kageyama.

“So, how’d you get into this guarding thing?” he asked, leaning against the wall next to Kageyama’s post.

“I’m on duty,” came the gruff response. Kageyama’s eyes remained fixed on the point ahead of him, not looking at Tadashi. He really was very good at his job.

“Come on, there’s nobody here, what harm could a little conversation do?”

Kageyama spared a quick glance at him then, and mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“His Highness said if I tried to talk to you he’d have me fired...”

“I thought he wasn’t allowed to do that anymore.”

“...Out of a cannon.”

“Oh. Well.”

And like, he did want to befriend Kageyama, really, but. Tadashi did not want to risk anyone getting fired out of a cannon.

“Um, Your Highness?” He ended up asking, at dinner that evening. 

“What is it, Yamaguchi?”   
“Why don’t you want Kageyama to talk to me?”

Kei put down his fork and glared at the table like he was trying to make it burst into flame. His ears were turning red, Tadashi noticed. It was...kind of cute, maybe.

“He doesn’t want Tobio to tell you embarrassing stories about him is my guess,” His Majesty King Akiteru jumped in. 

Kei turned his death-glare towards his brother and hissed “AKITERU,” but Akiteru was immune after a lifetime of putting up with such glares and merely ate his roast hart.

“Well, I already know about the dragon obsession and your weird eating habits,” Tadashi said, “So how much worse could it get? Your Highness,” he added when it looked like Kei might order him to be thrown in the dungeon or something. But Kei just furrowed his brows some more and looked away.

Prince Kei didn’t say anything for the rest of the meal, and when everyone had left he grabbed Tadashi’s wrist and said, “Stay.”

So Tadashi stayed. “What’s up? I mean, What is the matter, Your Highness?”

Kei frowned. “Don’t talk like that. Just. Pretend I’m not a prince for a minute.” He took his crown off and put it on the table in front of them, then fluffed up his hair to hide the weird dent left by its removal. It was a thin, plain, everyday sort of crown, normally mostly hidden by his blond curls, but he did look different without it somehow. Smaller.

Kei took a deep breath, then started talking.

“I never really......had a lot of friends my own age,” he bit out. Tadashi had already noticed that admitting to weaknesses of any kind was difficult for the prince, and also that he did not want to be condescended to, so he just nodded in acknowledgement and waited for Kei to continue. 

“Kageyama was hired as an apprentice to the old Head of the Royal Guard when we were both like ten, and we clashed immediately. He always acted like he knew best, and I kept telling him maybe he should be the king instead of Akiteru. And the other kids my parents invited to socialize with me didn’t really get along with him either, but they also didn’t really like me. They couldn’t make fun of me, because I’m a fucking prince, but you could tell they really wanted to.”

Kei’s expression turned from sulky to thoughtful for a moment. “There was this one kid at my eleventh birthday party, the magician’s son, I think his name was Keiji. He was funny and talked to me like he wasn’t scared. Then it turned out he and his dad broke into one of our vaults and then left the kingdom, so I never saw him again after that.”

Hitoka had mentioned a Keiji Akaashi in her last letter. Tadashi wondered if they were the same person, but...nah, probably not. What were the odds, after all?

Kei continued. “Anyway, back to Kageyama. Since we’ve both gotten older, we’ve kind of learned to coexist, but now that you’re here...” He took a deep breath. “Now that there’s a new presence in the castle... no,” he muttered, “That’s not what I want to say either.”

Tadashi waited, but when it looked like The Ice Prince of the North was going to burst into flames from embarrassment rather than continue talking, he smiled gently and said, “Are you saying you want to be friends, Kei? And you’re worried Kageyama’s going to embarrass you around me or something?”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Kei snapped back automatically.

“So, yes.”

“ _ Please  _ shut up.”

“Did you actually have your guards pick me up and drag me to your castle because you wanted to  _ be friends _ with me?”

“I  _ never  _ said that.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t have to.” Tadashi was beaming now. Sometimes he wondered if his presence was an inconvenience or if Kei was actually irritated by his presence. Or if he was being held as part of a convoluted gambit to topple Hitoka’s mother from her relatively recently secured throne. It felt nice to be reassured that, for whatever bizarre reason, Prince Kei wanted him in his life.

“This is easily in the top three most embarrassing moments of my entire life,” Kei grumbled, putting his head on the table. Tadashi wondered if patting him on the head at this point would lead to his execution.

He decided to risk it anyway, patting Kei very lightly on top of his fluffy blond hair. Kei didn’t react, which emboldened Tadashi to do something even more dangerous.

“But like. Why me, specifically? Because I was there and you were acting on impulse? No, I don’t think you do things on impulse...” 

Kei picked his head up from the table then, and when he locked eyes with Tadashi, his eyes seemed almost...vulnerable.

“We met once before, didn’t we?” Kei said softly.

“You remember that?” Tadashi had always assumed that for a prince, riding through a town greeting the common folk was just a regular weekday for him. In the month or so he’d been at the castle, he had learned that it wasn’t a super frequent thing for the royal family to do, but he still didn’t think if he were the one riding through villages waving to people in a noble manner he would remember any one specific kid he accidentally made eye contact with. 

“Your hair was shorter then, and you had more freckles. You were standing next to a tiny blonde girl. And you just...” Kei looked down at the table again. “You looked.... _ kind. _ ”

Kei looked back up at Tadashi, and Tadashi realized for the first time that their faces were suddenly very close together. He leaned back a little bit, feeling weirdly warm all of a sudden.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m not a particularly nice person,” Kei said. “But I thought... I don’t know.”

“Do you want to be a nicer person?” Tadashi asked, and Kei snorted.

“Not particularly.” He smiled then, a familiar annoying smirk that instantly set Tadashi at ease. “But maybe if I spend time with you I’ll begin to understand the appeal.”

 

_ Hi Hitoka, hope everything’s okay with you. I am still fine, still stuck in this castle. I’m getting along better with everyone here. I miss you. Thanks for ignoring me telling you I don’t need rescuing and going anyway. I was annoyed for a little bit but I only really have like three people I can talk to here, so. Your last letter was interesting. Kiyoko sounds cool. I think the Prince might know that Akaashi guy you mentioned.   _

_ Tell Hinata to stop gambling with strangers. Love you, Tadashi _

 

“Tadashi says to tell you to stop gambling with strangers, and I agree,” Hitoka said to Shouyou when she read the letter. 

Shouyou stuck his tongue out at her. “It all turned out okay in the end, didn’t it?”

They really were having a lot of good luck with the mail, in a land where formal postal service was a pretty shaky thing. 

Today, the three of them were riding their horses, when some guy going in the opposite direction stopped and said, “Hitoka Yachi? Lady Yachi of the White Lily? Knight of the Seven Realms?” And shoved an envelope in her hands before continuing on. 

Hitoka’s not sure how he recognized her, actually. She wasn’t even in armor. Maybe he noticed the crest stamped into her leather traveling bag or something. Whatever.

As they traveled, Hitoka and Kiyoko talked, if only because too much silence would prompt Shouyou into singing The Ballad of The Small Giant, horrendously loudly and off-key. 

She learned that Kiyoko had started doing magic because an old lady with a pointy hat and a squint had lined up all the girls in her village one day and said, “You look like you have something to prove, come with me,” and trained her.

“I like helping people,” Kiyoko said quietly, focusing on the road ahead of them. “I like making everyone’s life a little easier by being in it. And as a witch, it’s my job to do that.”

“My mom raised me to be strong and independent, so I wouldn’t have to count on a man to provide for me. I learned to fight from knights who’d pass through our village, and then when I was a teenager I started entering tournaments. Eventually I started winning them, and got an official knighthood and everything. And now,” Hitoka took a deep breath. “Well, now I’m here.”

 

They reached The Castle of the Eastern Kingdom, alternatively known as the Oikawa Castle, around dinnertime that day. They’d sent a letter ahead, telling Madoka Yachi to expect her daughter and two compatriots for a few days. 

As the three horses approached the drawbridge, trumpets blared a fanfare from the parapets, and the drawbridge swung down with barely a creak. A pretty woman with wavy light brown hair and eyes like Hitoka’s strode down the lowered bridge. She wore a simple wine-red velvet dress, and the crown on her head gleamed like it was made for her. Two men around Yachi’s age followed some distance behind, dressed as pages. Which was kind of odd, because pages were usually like, twelve year old attendants for various noblemen, but these guys had to be in their early twenties at the least. One of them, the one with flippy brown hair and a flirty smile, walked like royalty himself. Even though his uniform didn’t quite fit and his scowly partner kept reprimanding him for something.

Hitoka wondered if that was the famous Tooru Oikawa.

Her mom beamed. “Darling,” she said, and they embraced. The last time Hitoka had seen her mom in person was...maybe last year? Or was it two years ago. Before the coup, definitely. Long enough that she’d forgotten what hugs from her mother felt like.

“And Shouyou!” Madoka added. “How are you? Serving my Hitoka well?”

“Yes!” Shouyou exclaimed, flushing. He dismounted from his horse to stand at attention and salute. 

“And what’s your name?” The new Queen of the Eastern Kingdom asked Kiyoko, and Kiyoko didn’t blush or hesitate as she responded. Hitoka really, really hoped her mom liked Kiyoko.

“Well, I’m sure you’re all tired and hungry from your journey. Oikawa and Iwaizumi can take you to your rooms. How long are you going to stay here?”

“Just a few days,” Hitoka said. “We really should be moving as fast as possible. Sorry, did you say  _ Oikawa?” _

The flippy haired one Hitoka thought might be Oikawa grinned and flashed a peace sign with one hand. “That would be me! The Oikawa formerly known as the Grand King. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about me, and I’ve heard a lot about you, too, little Hitoka!”

Hitoka bristled at being called little. “I heard an owl shapeshifter and his boyfriend stole your silverware and jewelry when you invited them over for dinner one time.”

Oikawa flushed. “That was...! A misunderstanding!”

Next to him, Iwaizumi snorted. “Yes, Shittykawa, you thought Akaashi said ‘confident man’ when he said ‘confidence man’ and said ‘It’s nice that you have such a high opinion of yourself, sweetie!’ The look on Akaashi’s face after that was absolutely amazing.”

Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi by his collar and hissed, “We! Literally! Just met these people! And you! Just! Ugh! Why are you so mean to me?” This last part is said in a despairing sigh. They led Hitoka and her friends to their rooms, bickering in a way that gave Hitoka the impression it was the background radiation of their life.

“So uh. What have you heard about me, Mr...Oikawa?” Hitoka asked, after both Kiyoko and Shouyou had been shown to their spacious and lavishly decorated guest quarters. Hitoka’s was at the end of the hall, and Iwaizumi had kindly informed her that it used to be the private suite of Tooru Oikawa when he was a young prince. Now they both lived in the servant’s quarters, and Oikawa despaired.

“Well, you’re our Supreme Overlord” —Iwaizumi kicked him in the shin— “ _ Ow _ — I mean, Queen Madoka’s only daughter, an accomplished swordfighter and jouster, a knight of the seven realms, engaged to some boring guy no one cares about” —Iwaizumi kicked him again— “I mean, Tadashi Yamaguchi, and you’re stopping here on your way to rescue him from some convoluted kidnapping situation. Also we’re having your favorite cake thing for dessert today.” Oikawa punctuated this information dump with yet another peace sign.

Hitoka blinked a few times. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry, he’s like this to everyone he thinks of as a rival to some degree,” Iwaizumi said. “Having his kingdom taken from him and then being forced to do manual labor did not do anything to improve his personality.”

“You  _ love  _ my personality,” Oikawa cooed, batting his eyelashes at Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi flipped him off.

They had dinner clustered at one end of a table meant for at least three times as many people. The Queen sat at the head of the table, naturally, with Hitoka and Kiyoko to her left and Shouyou to her right. There were many courses. Hitoka was once again reminded of why she rarely accepted quests from royalty.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi waited on them, bringing out each course at the appropriate times and then hovering around the table in case someone needed another napkin or something. Kiyoko looked like she belonged in this castle, each bite dainty and controlled. Shouyou managed to spill his pumpkin leek soup all over himself almost immediately, and Hitoka could see Oikawa barely holding back laughter.

Madoka Yachi decided that was the perfect moment to talk about how Oikawa and Iwaizumi came to be her servants in the first place.

“Iwaizumi was a nobleman and Tooru’s best friend,” she began. Oikawa cringed at the use of his first name. “So after I had secured the throne, I realized I needed him to help me keep Tooru in line.” She smiled at Iwaizumi, who smiled back uncertainly in return. “But of course, he would have volunteered to stay anyway. Anything for his Trashykawa.”

“He’s not  _ my _ —” Iwazumi began, and then realized he was interrupting the queen and stopped talking immediately. 

“Anyway, they both needed a lot of training, being too upper-class to ever clean or wait on people in their lives, but I think it’s really done them a lot of good. Tooru especially seems to have less of an ego now than he did a few months ago.”

Oikawa smiled tightly, looking like he was in severe pain.

Hitoka looked at the two disgraced noblemen, standing by the table they used to eat at every day, in servant clothes that didn’t fit them quite right, and tapped her mother on the shoulder.

“Mom, can Oikawa and Iwaizumi please join us for dessert?” Hitoka asked, trying to sound the way she did when she was a child trying to get her mom to buy her candy at the village market. It worked. 

Madoka’s cold smile warmed by a few degrees, and she said, “If that’s what you want. Maybe they do deserve a bit of a break.”

Oikawa slipped into the chair next to Kiyoko and was instantly all warmth and charm.

“And who might you be?” He cooed, putting one hand on the high back of her chair and turning towards her. “What’s your story? Were you always this pretty or are you using your magic to make yourself even more beautiful?”

Kiyoko turned away from him. “None of your business,” she said, voice shaking just the slightest bit, and refused to elaborate further.

Iwaizumi extended his hand across the table for a high-five, and Kiyoko obliged, perfectly poised as usual.

His attempt at conversation with Kiyoko thwarted, Oikawa retreated to the comfortable territory of bantering with Iwaizumi, while Hitoka was being embarrassed by her mother.

“I could make you a princess, you know. Do you want to be a princess? I can also provide you three with a coach for the rest of your journey. Some nicer clothes? I haven’t been able to do motherly things for you for so long, you must give me  _ something  _ now that you’ve showed up here,” Madoka was saying, twirling a glass of red wine in one hand.

“It’s fascinating how different she sounds when she’s talking to her daughter,” Oikawa remarked from his seat. Iwaizumi shushed him.

Hitoka buried her burning face in both hands. “Mom, it’s fine! Seriously, I don’t want to be a princess and a coach wouldn’t be able to make it through the forest on our way.” She considered it. “Maybe some clothes. But not too much, we still have to carry our own gear.”

Madoka beamed. “It shall be done.”She then focused her attentions on Shouyou. “So, Shouyou, you’ve been Hitoka’s squire for quite some time now, isn’t that right? Are you planning on striking out on your own any time soon?”   
Shouyou chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, I’m not sure that would be the best idea for me. I’m shorter than average, and don’t have all that much actual fighting experience yet. The idea of going on a quest all by myself is kind of...” he made a strange noise to better demonstrate his feelings on going on a quest by himself. 

“Don’t let your size keep you from doing what you really want,” Madoka said firmly. “Look at Hitoka.”

Hitoka flushed as everyone looked at her obligingly. But if she was being fair, being small and cute had proven to be more of an advantage than she expected. “Everyone lets their guard down when they’re up against me,” she said softly.

“That’s my daughter. Always full of surprises,” Madoka murmured, patting her on the shoulder. 

“When I met her, she’d just thrown two full-grown men overboard a boat before diving off herself,” Kiyoko volunteered. “It was lucky I happened to be passing by.”

Hitoka beamed at her. “You saved me, Kiyoko! I don’t actually know how to swim! I was screaming internally that whole time. I didn’t  _ mean  _ to go overboard, the swan pirate dude pushed me.” 

“Really? Because from where I was sitting you seemed to know exactly what you were doing,” Kiyoko replied, and she was wearing that soft proud smile Hitoka had found herself watching for sometime since that night at the Owl’s Hollow, so Hitoka just impulsively leaned over and wrapped her in a hug. She jumped back half a second later, stammering apologies. She knew Kiyoko wasn’t big on physical affection, what was she even doing.

“It’s alright,” Kiyoko reassured her with a slight laugh. “Don’t worry about it.”

Hitoka tried to slide under the table, only for her mom to snap “Hitoka! Posture!” at her like she was ten years old again.

She dismissed everyone from the table shortly after, but asked Hitoka to stay and chat with her privately.

“What is it?” Hitoka asked. “I still don’t want to be a princess, by the way.”

“And I respect your decision. I was just curious,” Madoka said. “Are you still marrying Tadashi?”

“Huh?” Heat rushed to her face. “W-why wouldn’t I be?”

Madoka shrugged. “You seemed to be awfully friendly with Miss Kiyoko.”

Hitoka hid her face in her hands, again, because what was it about her mom and her habit of constantly embarrassing her only child? “We’re just friends! I’m not...you know! Like that!”

Her mother looked at her sympathetically. “Darling. I thought we agreed not to lie to each other.”

“You just always know when I try to lie somehow,” Hitoka muttered, crossing her arms and looking away. “But I’m not lying this time.”

“Not intentionally, perhaps. But consider this: what do you feel when you think about Tadashi?”

“Safety,” Hitoka said. “Comfort. Familiarity. Warmth.”

“And Kiyoko?”

Hitoka could feel herself blushing again. “Curiosity. Nerves. How I feel when I think I’m about to lose a fight, right before I win. ...Excitement.” She looked down at the table. “Happiness, I guess. Like I can’t stop smiling inside... Maybe it’s just a crush? But I’ve never really had a crush before, so how would I know?”

Madoka sipped her wine. “When you were eight you followed the baker’s wife around town for a week because you thought she was pretty.”

Hitoka stared at her. “I genuinely do not remember that.”

Madoka patted her on the arm. “That’s what I’m here for, dear. A mother’s duty is to store all her child’s embarrassing moments until such a time when the child itself can be embarrassed by them.”

“ _ Mother I swear to God. _ ” But Hitoka was kind of enjoying it, deep down inside. It really did feel like no time had passed since their last conversation at all.

Madoka laughed. “Anyway, when you see Tadashi again, I think you should talk to him about reconsidering the whole marriage thing.”

“But would he be okay with that?” Hitoka thought back to the last few times she’d seen Tadashi in person. He wasn’t like most guys she ran into, throwing pickup lines at her face or grabbing her where she did not want to be grabbed. He’d never tried to initiate anything more intense than a hug. Although Tadashi did give really good hugs. Would breaking off the engagement mean no more Tadashi hugs, ever? 

Madoka twirled her wineglass around. “Unless something had drastically changed since the last time I saw you two, I really don’t think he’d object. How did Tadashi propose? You never did give me the details on the whole thing.”

Hitoka cringed. “It wasn’t really a proposal, actually. More like, we were talking, and he was like ‘Should we get married? It’d be good for taxes and stuff,’ and I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’ and then we just kind of kept going.”

“So there you go. Just talk to him when you can. I promise, everything is going to work out okay,” Madoka said. “And if it doesn’t, I’ll just have my guards execute him.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“I was  _ kidding, _ Hitoka, honestly, what kind of a monster do you think I am?”

Hitoka rolled her eyes. “You’re right, you’re far more likely to kill him yourself. More personal that way.”

“Exactly! You know me so well.” Madoka kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good night.

Hitoka found herself in a far too large, far too soft bed, alone in the dark and quiet castle. As usual, it took her too long to fall asleep.

 

Hitoka had told everyone that they were going to spend exactly three days and two nights in the castle, resting and recuperating before continuing their journey. Setting a time limit made her feel less guilty for taking some time off from adventuring and seeing her mother again. She made sure to sleep until the chambermaids brought breakfast to her room, explore the castle and the gardens, and generally relax. It was also surprisingly nice to have actual  _ privacy  _ for once, insteading of sharing a living space with two other people. Hitoka could feel her chronic low-grade headache fading away. The ability to choose when to spend time with Kiyoko, or Shouyou, or her mom, was just...so...nice. She spent most of the first day in her room, just lying there decompressing and thinking about The Kiyoko Thing. What did she want to do?

Obviously, she couldn’t  _ do  _ anything until she talked to Tadashi, but in the meantime, should she try to avoid her? Try to get closer to her? Talk to her more and hope that realizing Kiyoko is a regular person with vulnerabilities and flaws like everyone else would kill the crush before it can bear fruit?

Hitoka was ruminating over this when she heard a soft knock on the door.

“Hey,” Kiyoko said.  _ Speak of the devil.  _ “You’ve been in there all day, is everything alright?”

Kiyoko was wearing one of Madoka’s old dresses from before the coup, a plain sky-blue linen shift. Hitoka realized how used she was to seeing Kiyoko in dark blue clothes, but the bright color suited her.

She sat upright and hastily combed her hair with her fingers, trying not to look like she’d spent an entire day lying around in her nightgown. “I’m great!” Hitoka said, extremely convincingly. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to just relax like this. How about you, what have you done today?”

Kiyoko sat down on the corner of the bed as she talked. “Oikawa and Iwaizumi gave us a tour of the castle grounds, and then I just sat in the library for a while and read a very interesting book on wind magic.” She ran her fingers over the embroidered bedspread, and Hitoka stared, mesmerized, as the flowery designs swirled and changed shape from Kiyoko’s touch. “Her Majesty mentioned she’d like to have everyone together for dinner tonight, so I thought I might stop by and see if you were planning to come.” Her voice seemed to go softer towards the end of that sentence.

“Well, if mom says she’d  _ like  _ something to happen, that usually means it’s happening, so I’ll be there, haha.” Hitoka jumped out of the bed and went over to the wardrobe. Her mother had thoughtfully provided her with a variety of distinctly royal-looking gowns for Hitoka to wear during the three days she was staying. A very wide variety. Was Madoka expecting her to change clothes three times a day?

“Kiyoko, what should I wear?” Hitoka asked. Kiyoko came up beside her and the two girls surveyed the dresses hanging neatly in a row, organized by color.

Hitoka was abruptly aware of how close Kiyoko was standing to her, and was torn between jumping away in embarrassment and freezing in place while pretending Everything Is Fine. Why was this her life.

“I think the light green one would look nice on you,” Kiyoko mused, pulling the dress off the rack, “But I really don’t know much about fashion. Is it socially acceptable to wear light green to dinner?”

Hitoka giggled. “How would I know? I think you’re supposed to wear darker colors at night, but I don’t think my mom’s going to care too much so long as I’m actually wearing one of the dresses she got me.”

It was a pretty nice gown, with a yellow brocade pattern and pink trim. It reminded Hitoka of a spring meadow. The back laced up, so she asked Kiyoko to help put it on. For a split-second, she wondered if that counted as flirting, and then shook the thought out of her head.

Kiyoko pulled at the laces. “Tell me if it’s too tight.”

Hitoka nodded. She could feel the warmth of Kiyoko’s breath on her neck, her hands at her waist. It was dizzying.

Tadashi had never made her feel like this.

“...Hitoka? Are you breathing?”

She jumped. “Huh? Yeah! Fine! Everything! Continues to be fine!”

Kiyoko tied the laces. “If you’re sure,” she said.

Hitoka looked in the mirror hanging inside the wardrobe. She saw a short girl with admittedly rather unkempt blonde hair in a shiny dress way above her pay grade, standing next to perfection.

They stood there silently for a little bit, looking at their reflections. Hitoka ran her hands through her hair again.

“Hey, we kind of match,” Hitoka blurted out. “Like, if I’m earth and flowers, you’re sky. Or water.”

Kiyoko hummed. “You’re right.”

Hitoka was suddenly aware of how much time they’d spent playing dress-up. She pulled the wardrobe door closed and the two of them made their way to the Royal Banquet Hall. “We should probably get going. Did my mom say when dinner was? She probably just expects me to be able to read her mind...Mothers, am I right?” 

The witch chuckled. “I wouldn’t know. I left home to be an apprentice to a witch at a pretty young age, and my mom died a couple of years after that, so.”

“Oh no! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up traumatic memories for you or anything!” Kiyoko was never going to tell her anything ever again, Hitoka thought.

“It’s fine, it’s been a long time and I barely remember her now. But...” Kiyoko trailed off. “Maybe that’s why I don’t really get close to people, even now.”

Hitoka didn’t really know what to say to that.

“The prodigal daughter has returned,” Oikawa intoned as the two of them walked into the Banquet Hall. He and Iwaizumi were setting the table still, putting napkins and tiny bowls of soup at every place.

“I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to use that phrase,” Iwaizumi said.

“Do I look like I care, sweetiepie? No, no I do not.”

Iwaizumi froze. Placed the last soup bowl at Queen Madoka’s seat with exaggerated care, leaving him with an empty metal platter in his hands. He picked up the platter and slowly raised it over Oikawa’s head. “The fuck did you just call me, Shittykawa?”

“Hajime, not in front of the _guests!_ ” Oikawa cackled, holding up his own empty platter in self defense.

“...Aren’t you two supposed to be older than me?” Hitoka asked, and they both jumped back in embarrassment.

“See, look what you did,” Iwaizumi hissed.

“What  _ I  _ did? You were the one who decided I needed to be whacked on the head for calling you, the  _ love of my life _ , a cute pet name!”

Iwaizumi flushed. “You can’t just say shit like that so casually, moron,” he said, in a tone that sounded a little too affectionate to be really angry.

Oikawa could hear it too, and he beamed. “Your  _ favorite  _ moron.”

“Top five at most. We need another jug of mead for the table, go get it.” 

Oikawa stuck his tongue out at him and walked out through the back entrance. After a moment, Iwaizumi followed, grumbling about how he needed to keep an eye on him for his own good or whatever.

Hitoka and Kiyoko shrugged at each other and sat down.

“Never a dull moment with these two around, huh?” Madoka said, gliding into the room. 

“Aren’t you worried they might try to kill you and take back the throne?” Hitoka asked her, and her mother laughed. 

“I keep them far too busy to consider rebellion. Plus I have their army and the favor of their people, what could they really do?” She smiled. It wasn’t a particularly nice smile.

“The two of you look very nice today,” Madoka added after awhile, with a far more genuine expression on her face.

Shouyou ran in, sliding along the polished floor and apologizing about being late even though the Queen really hadn’t set a specific time for dinner.

“Hey, Yachi,” Shouyou glanced at the Queen and corrected himself. “I mean, Lady Yachi. What do you think about bringing the Former Grand King and Mr. Scowly Eyebrows along with us on our quest?”

Hitoka put down her fork. “Well, I guess we could, if mom and Kiyoko are okay with it, but like...why?”

Shouyou looked sheepish. “I kind of feel bad for them. They’ve been stuck here for months and they’re probably bored as heck. They’re noblemen, so they know archery and swordfighting and stuff and can help protect us! And also they’re funny.”

Hitoka nodded thoughtfully. “All good points, Hinata. Kiyoko? What do you think?”

Kiyoko sipped her drink while she thought. “Sure,” she said, in a tone that implied the exact opposite. “The more the merrier.”

Hitoka nudged her shoulder. “Really?”

Kiyoko sighed. “People...make me uneasy. I’m not very good with them. And the more people there are in a situation the more people I have to be good with.” She looked up. “Also, I can’t tell if Oikawa and Iwaizumi are actually together or not which means I can’t tell if Oikawa’s genuinely trying to hit on me or just teasing me to get a reaction.”

“The latter, trust me,” Madoka said. She looked into the distance. “They are  _ extremely  _ together,” she added, in the voice of one who had seen many unspeakable horrors. 

Hitoka cringed and cursed her overactive imagination. “Do you think that’s going to be a problem, then? If they go with us?”

Madoka shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly. I’ve never seen the two of them traveling. Iwaizumi’s a decent and normal person, and Oikawa knows how to be decent, he just doesn’t usually bother.” Her eyes lit up. “I forgot he has to do whatever I say for a moment there. He’ll be an absolute angel if I tell him to be!”

Kiyoko still looked uneasy, and Hitoka felt terrible for even considering an idea that would make Kiyoko Shimizu feel bad. Truly, she was the worst person. “We don’t have to take them if you’re not okay with it, Kiyoko, really,” she said, patting Kiyoko’s hand reassuringly and wow her hand was really soft and warm and okay this was probably getting weird now Hitoka stop this immediately. 

Kiyoko was silent for a few long moments. “I guess...worst case scenario, I can just fly home by myself at this point. My home village isn’t that far from this castle. But, best case scenario, I want to help you finish your quest.”

Something warm and fizzy seemed to settle in Hitoka’s chest, and she wanted to jump up and down with glee.

“Guess that’s settled then,” said Shouyou. 

“What’s settled?” Oikawa asked, returning from the storeroom emptyhanded while Iwaizumi carried the mead they had left to retrieve. 

Shouyou beamed at them both. “You’re coming with us tomorrow!”

Iwaizumi dropped a jug. Oikawa dove to catch it before it hit the ground. “Wait, what?” they said in unison.

Oikawa bowed slightly. “Your Majesty...What did the short one—  _ ow  _ — Hinata say just now?”

Madoka put down her fork and dabbed at her mouth with the corner of a linen napkin. “You will accompany my daughter on her journey to the Tsukishima Castle and back.” Her voice was like a steel rod, unbendable and impossible to dispute. Hitoka had a flashback to being eleven years old and trying to argue with her mother against doing the laundry. Hitoka had never won an argument with her mother in her entire life.

She concentrated on eating her dinner while Madoka laid out exactly what she required of her servants on the trip. 

After dinner, her mom called Hitoka over to help her figure out what they should take with them. Madoka was generous, and they departed the next morning on horses laden with money, good food, and better quality clothing and supplies than they had previously.

She also looked over the map Akaashi had scribbled on. “These notes are interesting. Do you want to brave the... highwaymen who are friends with Bokuto?”

Hitoka laughed. “I actually kind of do. They sounded interesting, from what those guys said.” Of course, a sizable part of Hitoka was terrified it was all an elaborate ruse to lull her into a false sense of security, but the more optimistic part of Hitoka thought Bokuto would sooner turn into an owl and fly away than lie to someone’s face.

Madoka gave her an appraising look. “A few years ago you would’ve taken a two-day detour to avoid even the possibilty of running into a highwayman. You’ve grown, Hitoka.”

Hitoka flushed. “I guess so.”

“I’ll be sure to invite the Loveable Rogues to dinner next time you’re around,” Madoka went on. “To thank them for being so kind to my beloved offspring.”

“Offspring,” Hitoka repeated. “Okay. Make sure to keep an eye on your valuables.”

“Will do. Have a good night, dear.”

“You too, mom.”

The morning of their departure dawned sunny and pleasant. Oikawa insisted on getting a good look at the map before they went anywhere.

“Did you have much to do with the Tsukishima family, before..um,” Hitoka trailed off, unsure how to diplomatically end that sentence.

“Before Yachi’s Mom kicked you off your own throne in the fastest and least violent coup in recent history?” Shouyou finished for her. Thanks, Shouyou.

Oikawa smiled, but it was a strained and painful smile. “Actually, we did have fairly good diplomatic relations with each other. Dined at each other’s palaces at least twice a year. From what I’ve seen of Her Majesty’s correspondence, she’s doing her best to maintain all the ties and alliances I’ve spent years developing.” There was a trace of bitterness in his tone, but no more than was justified by the situation. Hitoka realized with a shock that Oikawa was actually making an effort to not be a dick.

“Thanks, Iwaizumi,” she said. He nodded.

“What did Iwa do?!”

Having Iwaizumi and Oikawa join them proved to be a good source of entertainment as they rode on, as the two of them kept up a near constant stream of bickering that seemed as natural as breathing to them.

“How long have you known each other?” Shouyou asked.

“Literally our entire lives,” Iwaizumi said, “which is way too fucking long.”

“His dad was a...duke? I think? And my father’s favorite advisor,” Oikawa added. “So Hajime was automatically one of the few children I was allowed to play with when we were little. And then he just kind of...stuck.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

They had been on the road for a few hours, debating whether or not to stop for a late lunch, when a group of men in red and black stepped out in front of them. The leader, a tall guy with messy black hair, held up a sword in the most nonchalant manner Hitoka had ever seen, and said, “Your money or your life.”

The two groups stared at each other in silence for a few long moments.

Oikawa leaned over to whisper something to Iwaizumi, who punched him in the shoulder for his troubles.

Then Hitoka raised her hand like she was a student in class and said, “H-hi, are you Kuroo? Tetsurou Kuroo?”

The highwayman lowered his sword a tiny bit and made eye contact with her. Hitoka realized she was not getting off her horse until absolutely necessary, because this guy was at least a foot and a half taller than her and also his sword was longer than hers.

“Who’s asking?” Tetsurou Kuroo asked warily. This reassured her a little.

“We’re friends with Koutarou Bokuto, he says hi.”

And just like that, the leader of the Nekoma band of thieves dropped his sword and smiled in a slightly less sinister manner than previously. “Yachi, right? Then you must be Hinata, and Kiyoko Shimizu? Bokuto and Akaashi wrote me a letter, told me to expect you. You seem like a nice group.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at Iwaizumi and Oikawa in turn. “No idea who you guys are, though.”

Oikawa dismounted in a swift, graceful motion. “I’m Tooru Oikawa, former Grand King of the East! This is my right-hand man, Hajime Iwaizumi! We’ve been instructed to accompany the Lady Hitoka Yachi by her mother.” Iwaizumi nudged him. “The current Queen of the Eastern Kingdom.”

Kuroo nodded. “Sounds legit. Well, since you’re all here now, want to eat with us? Yaku made curry.”

“That sounds lovely, thank you,” Hitoka and Oikawa replied in unison. 

Oikawa cringed. “Sorry, forgot I’m not actually the leader here,” he said. Hitoka waved it off. The transition from royalty to serving class was probably harder than she could imagine.

Kuroo led the group through some trees to a clearing where a sort of camp had been set up, and introduced them to his... “band of thieves,” was how he’d put it. That made the one with dyed blonde hair, who’d been introduced as Kenma, wrinkle his nose. “We haven’t stolen anything in months, Kuro. We make most of our income through selling the potions I make and working security for small town events. Just let it go.”

“Wait, if you do the your-money-or-your-life thing to every traveler passing through here, why haven’t you stolen anything in months?” Shouyou pointed out.

Kenma looked up at the sky. “If you weren’t friends with Koutarou, he’d probably have let you go for being cute. Or maybe he’d fight you and let you win despite massively outnumbering you.” He sighed. “Kuro’s curse is that he is a kind and morally upright person deep down inside, who really wants to be a ruthless bad boy.”   
Kuroo looked mortified. “Kenma! You can’t go around telling strangers these things! We just met them! There was still a possibility they’d think I’m cool!”

“I’d hate for them to be disappointed,” Kenma replied, smiling slightly.

Oikawa regarded Kuroo with delight. “He’s like your version of Iwaizumi, but less growly! You  _ understand! _ ”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but alright,” Kuroo said.

They ate lunch on benches made from logs and stumps, which was a bit of a departure from the Royal Banquet Hall they had breakfasted in. Kiyoko was sitting next to Hitoka, which Hitoka realized had become usual for them. She shifted away slightly, just so her heart would stop beating so hard.

“Is it spicy curry today, Yaku?” Kuroo asked, poking at his plate suspiciously.

“Mild, because you’re a whiny pissbaby when it comes to spice and actually cried the last time I made spicy curry,” Yaku replied, dumping a ladleful of curry onto Hitoka’s plate.

“Why is everyone so determined to embarrass me in front of the new people, God,” Kuroo grumbled.

“You’re just an easy target,” Kai put in.

“But Lev, like, exists.”

“A fair point. Oh boy, here he comes.”

They watched Lev stumble out of the forest into the clearing. He had some kind of animal trap attached to his left arm. Yaku groaned and muttered something that sounded like “jesus fuck, not again.”

He shoved the ladle at Kai and said “I’ll go make sure the idiot’s arm doesn’t fall off,” and departed.

Oikawa sniffed his curry, served in a metal plate. “How quaint,” he said.

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “I can’t tell if that was supposed to be a compliment or not.”

“Definitely a compliment!” Hitoka rushed to add, before Oikawa’s refined tastes got them all killed. 

They ate in silence for a few minutes. The curry was surprisingly good. Hitoka was impressed.

“So Kenma!” Shouyou asked. Kenma jumped, startled. “You said you make potions? That’s so cool!”

“Oh. Yeah. That’s how I met this bunch.” He looked at the table. “I don’t really do spells or other magic stuff. But I’m pretty good with herbs, I guess.” 

“Miss Kiyoko’s a witch! Miss Kiyoko, do you make potions too?”

Kiyoko froze with her fork halfway to her mouth. “Well. Sometimes? I know how to, but they’re usually more trouble than they’re worth. I do poultices and oinments more often, if people ask me to make them.” She put her fork down. “Wait, I just thought of something. Kenma, do you need any dragon scales? I got some from that three-headed dragon in the Southeast, and I don’t make potions that often, so maybe you could make better use of them.” 

Kenma looked up, eyes bright. “Yes.” Kuroo nudged him. “Please,” he added after a moment.

Kiyoko smiled. “Okay.”

“This is so heartwarming,” Oikawa whispered. “I think that’s the most words I’ve ever heard Kiyoko say at once.”

“You’ve known her for less than a week,” Iwaizumi pointed out. Oikawa ignored him.

“Kenma is being polite to strangers, I never thought I’d see the day,” Kuroo whispered to Kai. Kenma scrunched his nose.

Yaku returned, dragging the oversized Lev behind him. “What did I tell you not to do?” he asked Lev.

“Go to the forest alone,” Lev mumbled, looking suitably contrite for the occasion. His arm was tightly wrapped in a bandage. 

“And what did you fucking do?”

“Go to the forest alone...” Hitoka felt a twinge of sympathy for this kid, even though he was intimidating and tall. He looked like he was about Shouyou’s age. Possibly on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry, Mr. Yaku! I saw a cat and I went after it and then I tripped and it was an accident, I promise!”

“No shit it was an accident, who gets themselves stuck in a trap on purpose?”

Lev glanced at Kuroo. 

“I would never do something that stupid,” Kuroo snapped back. Kenma stared at him, unimpressed.

“When will you learn from your mistakes, Lev? Seriously, when?” Yaku sighed, shaking his head. He shoved a bowl of curry into Lev’s good arm. 

“I don’t deserve lunch,” Lev said.

“Shut up. You’d be more of a nuisance if we let you starve.” Yaku sat down on the edge of the bench, next to Shouyou and Kenma. 

“We should probably punish him somehow, though, shouldn’t we?” said Kai. “We don’t have that many rules here and he still manages to break them all on a regular basis.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Fine. Lev, your punishment is to eat standing up.”

“That’s a lame punishment.”

“I’ll think of something more interesting when we don’t have guests around,” he said, giving everyone in Hitoka’s party a meaningful look.

“Speaking of guests!” He clapped his hands. “Where are you all going? Bo didn’t mention that in his letter. Just said you were on a quest of some kind.”

“Well, not exactly a quest,” Hitoka began. “You see...” and she gave Kuroo a severely edited-down version of the Story So Far. He and Kenma exchanged a look when she was done.

“The Northern Kingdom, you say. That’d be the Tsukishima family, right?” 

Oikawa nodded. 

“Well,” Kuroo said, tapping his fingertips together thoughtfully. “I heard the Prince of the Northern Kingdom is getting married next week, as a matter of fact.”

Huh. Maybe that was why Hitoka hadn’t gotten any letters from Tadashi recently. She wondered briefly what his role in the wedding was going to be.

“Guess we’re going to a wedding now,” she said.

When they’d departed, Kuroo turned to his band of thieves and said, “How do you guys feel about crashing a royal wedding?”

Lev and Inuoka cheered. Kai shrugged.

Kenma tugged on Kuroo’s sleeve. “Wasn’t Prince Kei the one who got you banned from his castle for life for quote ‘being an insufferable prick’ unquote?”

“Details, details. We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. Any other objections?”

Yaku opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, and then thought better of it.

“Then let’s go!”

 

The Prince of the Northern Kingdom was getting married next week. To...Tadashi, apparently.

It happened like this: Kei walked into Tadashi’s room one day and said, “We’re getting married.”

Tadashi said, “Wait, what?”

“You. Are getting married to me,” Kei clarified.

“Why? What? Do I get a say in this?”

“Because my mother thinks I need to get married to someone, and I like you, so this seems like the best option.” It’s funny how matter-of-fact he was about the whole thing, Tadashi thought then. He realized that was Kei’s way of covering up his embarrassment, but that was later.

“Wait, what? You like me? Also, what?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Kei pushed his glasses further up his nose and looked away. The tips of his ears were pink.

“No, that’s okay. Um, I’m actually engaged to someone right now... Hitoka Yachi? The girl I’ve been writing letters to? I can’t just marry you without telling her.”

“Okay but you see. I am a prince.”

Tadashi looked Kei in the eye and saw nothing but a deep conviction that being a prince was enough to render all other arguments beyond debate.

“Um,” he said eloquently.

“Do you want to marry that girl of yours?” Kei asked him.

Tadashi thought about it. “She’s my best friend,” he said. But she was not a prince. A stubborn, dorky prince with a sweet tooth and terrible personality. Who was also, Tadashi had realized as of late, extremely handsome.

“So?”

“I guess I’ll ask her what she thinks about this,” Tadashi muttered. “But for the record, I don’t think threatening people is a good way to propose to them.”

“I wasn’t  _ threatening _ you, I was simply stating a fact. The fact being that I am a prince and can therefore both promise you great fame and fortune, or have you executed.”

Tadashi gave him a sidelong glance and wondered, not for the first time, who the fuck Kei Tsukishima even was in the first place and why Tadashi put up with him.

“Your brother says you’re not allowed to have people executed anymore after threatening to do that to Kageyama every other day.”

Kei flushed. “That’s entirely Kageyama’s fault.”

“So, like, since you proposed to me...” Tadashi began. “Do you have like, a ring or something?”

“Oh.” Kei looked thoughtful. “No, actually. I may have forgotten that part.”

This was the point in the whole ridiculous conversation where Tadashi couldn’t take it anymore. He burst out laughing. Cackling really. The Ice Prince of the North looked like he was regretting this chain of events somewhat.

“Even  _ I  _ got Hitoka a ring when I proposed,” Tadashi said finally, wiping away laughter-induced tears. “It wasn’t a very nice ring because we didn’t really have any money, but it was still a ring.” She never wore it on her finger, though. She kept it on a cord around her neck, usually hidden under her clothes. It wasn’t worth a lot of money, but Tadashi liked to think it had some sentimental value to Hitoka.

“Also, she’s on her way here.”

Kei raised an eyebrow. “What, am I going to have to do battle for your hand in marriage?” 

Tadashi thought about it. “Hopefully not,” he said after a moment. “But like, brace yourself just in case.”

If this decidedly unromantic proposal had happened the day he met the prince, he’d probably have protested harder. Maybe even tried to escape on his own. But as the days turned into weeks which turned into months, Tadashi realized he’d actually grown to like Prince Kei, somehow. He’d never really thought about whether or not he was attracted to the prince, or wanted to marry him, because it didn’t seem like an option. And now, suddenly, here he was.

Life comes at you fast sometimes, evidently.

  
  


As they got closer to the Northern Kingdom, Kiyoko, who had been hanging back, took the lead. “We’re close to my hometown now,” she explained. “I recognize these roads.” 

“What’s your town like?” Hitoka asked.

Kiyoko thought for a while. “It’s nice,” she said. “I mean, there’s nothing particularly special about it, except that it’s on the banks of the river dividing the North and East kingdoms. The river’s beautiful, especially at night. We have festivals on the river in the summertime.”

“That sounds lovely,” Hitoka said, imagining Kiyoko sitting by the river, a white flower crown on her inky black hair, bathed in lantern light. Hitoka’s face felt hot.

When they reached the outskirts of the town, the sun had already started to set. Kiyoko stopped and jumped off her horse. A young man with oddly gray hair was picking wildflowers in the field, and the group watched as Kiyoko “Not a big fan of physical contact as a concept” Shimizu was pulled into a tight hug without protesting.

“Welcome back!” the young man said. “We’ve missed you!”

“It’s good to see you too, Suga,” Kiyoko said, pulling back from him. “These are my friends and traveling companions. Guys, this is Koushi Sugawara, also known as Suga. Childhood friend.”

_ Not boyfriend or fiancé or whatever,  _ a voice in Hitoka’s brain whispered. She did her best to avoid thinking about it. 

Suga waved. “Welcome to our little town! I’m getting flowers to use as table decorations for tonight’s dinner service at the inn,” he told Kiyoko. “You should all come by!”

They left their horses at a stable and followed Suga to the inn, which was called The Crow’s Nest. It was a pretty small building, but warm and inviting, and full of people.

“KIYOKO’S BACK, EVERYONE,” Suga yelled, kicking the door open. Everyone went silent for a moment, and then erupted into cheers.

“Looks like you’re the hero of this story after all,” Oikawa said to Kiyoko, who blushed.

Nobody swarmed her, but a few people shouted greetings and questions in her general direction, leaving Kiyoko free to ignore or answer them as she saw fit. Suga flitted around the room, chatting with everyone like a good host and throwing a few wildflowers into the little vases on each table.

Hitoka watched as Kiyoko stood stiff and composed under the attention. The witch’s fists were clenched tightly behind her back. Hitoka resisted the urge to grab Kiyoko’s hand to reassure her and settled for watching anxiously from as close as she could allow herself to stand. 

A burly man set some mugs of beer down on a table and then came over to greet the group. 

“Kiyoko, welcome back!” the man said, and Kiyoko hugged him just like how she’d hugged Suga earlier.

“Good to be back, Daichi,” she said, smiling. 

“How were the Witch Trials?”

“Trying,” Kiyoko said, deadpan, and Daichi and Suga both rolled their eyes. (“Every year,” Suga muttered.)

Oikawa nudged her slightly and whispered, “Introduce us!”

The witch let out a tiny, irritated huff of air through her nose and then made the appropriate introductions.

When she got to Oikawa, Daichi and Suga exchanged an incredulous look.

“The Oikawa formerly known as The Grand King? That Tooru Oikawa? How’d you end up with him?”

“Long story,” Oikawa and Hitoka said at the same time.

“Well, we’re honored to have you,” said Suga. “Assuming you’re staying here, that is.” He turned to Kiyoko. “I assume you’re gonna stay at your cottage, right?”

Kiyoko blinked. “I almost forgot I live here,” she said with a slight laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve slept in my own bed.” To the group, she explained: “My cottage is on the far end of the town, off the main street, and I only have the one bed.”

“Can we go see your house?” Shouyou asked. He flushed. “I mean, maybe not right now, since it’s night-time, but like, tomorrow morning or something.”

“I-it’s okay if you want to keep it private or whatever,” Hitoka hastened to add, “But I’d like to see your home too.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi looked at each other. “I don’t think we’ve known each other long enough to impose on you like this, Miss Shimizu,” Iwaizumi said bluntly, before Oikawa could open his mouth. Oikawa glared at him as he continued. “But this guy has a clinical need to know everything about everyone, so he’d like to be invited too.”

“Iwa, darling, that’s just slanderous,” Oikawa hissed, polite smile frozen on his face. 

Shouyou looked like he was holding back laughter.

Daichi and Suga exchanged a look again. They kept doing that, Hitoka noticed. She wondered if they could actually read each other’s minds.

“Well, we have two rooms vacant, but there’s only one bed per room...” Daichi began.

“Not a problem,” Oikawa said.

“Yes a problem,” Hitoka said. Shouyou looked hurt. They’d shared a bed a few times before, only out of necessity, and Hitoka always ended up regretting the decision. “No offense, Shouyou, but you kick in your sleep,” she explained. “And also you’re a blanket hog.” 

Shouyou nodded, but Oikawa was giving Hitoka a Look. A Look with a capital L. 

Hitoka Yachi felt, deep in her heart, that she did not deserve that Look. 

“If you don’t mind sharing with me, you could stay at my cottage,” Kiyoko suggested, and Hitoka could feel her entire face turn raspberry red at the prospect.

Okay, maybe she did deserve that Look. 

“Wait,” Shouyou said, smacking himself in the forehead. “Didn’t we just go through this last week? We have a bedroll! I can sleep on the floor and you can take the bed.”

Oh. Duh. “Right, of course. How did I forget that,” Hitoka muttered. 

Oikawa looked deeply amused by this entire exchange.

A lot could change in a week, Hitoka thought, casting a sideways glance at Kiyoko. Instead of running away entirely from the possibility of sleeping right next to her kind-of- sort-of- maybe- Huge Crush, she almost...wanted it to happen, now. Maybe the conversation with her mom made her more confident, or something. But the little shiver she felt every time her hand brushed against Kiyoko had gone from being nauseating to being almost pleasant. Familiar.

Hitoka shook her head sharply. The conversation had shifted tracks while she was zoning out. 

“Mr. Suga, Kiyoko said she learned how to play poker from you! Can you teach me?” Shouyou was saying.

“I’m not actually that good,” Suga said, chuckling.

“You cannot possibly be worse than Hinata,” Hitoka jumped in. “He gambled away his own boots.”

Suga’s eyes sparkled. “That sounds like a story,” he said. “One that should be told over dinner and drinks!”

He disappeared into the kitchen, promising he’ll be right back. 

A young woman with short, fluffy hair came into the inn. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kiyoko. Hitoka leaned back a tiny bit.

“KIYOKO! You’re back!” she yelled, practically throwing herself at the poor girl.

“Hi, Yui,” Kiyoko said, smiling warmly. 

Hitoka found herself wondering how long they’d known each other, what kind of things they’ve lived through together. What she’d need to do to get Kiyoko to smile at her like that.

“We all missed you so much!” Yui was saying, one knee pulled up on Kiyoko’s chair. Was Kiyoko comfortable being so close to someone? She usually shied away from things like that. But she didn’t look uncomfortable now, shifting position slightly to accomodate this Yui girl.

Yui was rambling about something that happened in the few months since Kiyoko had been home, and Kiyoko was nodding attentively.

She’d lived an entire life here, Hitoka realized. While Hitoka had barely stayed in one place for more than a few months, even as a child. Kiyoko had an entire world of people Hitoka had never met and experiences Hitoka hadn’t shared. And a few weeks of near-constant interaction wasn’t nearly enough time to bridge that gap.

Suga returned, carrying two huge platters laden with a variety of dishes. “Try the tofu, it’s my favorite,” he said, eyes twinkling.

“Don’t try the tofu,” Kiyoko said. “It is too spicy for mere mortals. Except Suga, apparently.”

Oikawa grabbed the plate of tofu and said, “Bring it.” 

Iwaizumi sighed and piled some white rice onto Oikawa’s plate, completely unsurprised when Oikawa started shrieking “Hot! Hot!” half a minute later.

The food was good. It was really good, actually. Hitoka was impressed. The townspeople seemed to know this, too, because every single table was full. Everyone was chatting, dozens of little conversations.

Hitoka was usually fine, in places like this, but sometimes, sometimes the sounds of people talking around her seemed to take on extra dimensions, become weights on her shoulders and clouds of fog that made it hard to breathe. She pushed her chair back and said, “I need some air,” and speed-walked out of the inn.

Kiyoko’s town was built on a wide river, with thin little canals spinning out of it and even thinner bridges crossing them. The main street ran right alongside the river’s steep, tall banks, with stairs leading down to a narrow walkway at water level. Daichi and Suga’s establishment didn’t have an open seating area with a nice view, the northern climate being far too chilly for that to be practical, but it was still right next to the river.  The sun had set a while ago, and the street glowed a warm yellow-orange color from the lanterns swinging overhead. There weren’t too many people out, and the moment she stepped outside, Hitoka felt her heart rate slow down and her breathing ease. 

She wandered down the stone steps to the river and sat down, pulled her knees up to her chest, and stared at her faint reflection in the inky blackness. The sky was clear that night, too. She could see the moon in the water, a fat sideways crescent.

Hitoka didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there, just breathing and letting herself calm down, when she heard footsteps coming down beside her.

“Hey,” Kiyoko said softly.

“Hi.”

Hitoka continued to stare at the water as all that calmness she’d gathered at this riverbank went out the window.

“Are you okay?” Kiyoko asked.

She managed a nod. “Just needed some air.”

“I see.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Hitoka walked over to the water and stuck her hand in. It was cold, but not too cold.

“What are you doing?” Kiyoko asked, but Hitoka ignored her. Tugged off her boots with some effort and carefully set them on the grass with her socks folded on top. She rolled up her pants to her knees and sat down on the edge of the riverbank, kicking her feet in the water.

She sighed, pleased. “This is exactly what I needed, I think.”

Kiyoko was watching her with an indescribable expression on her face. Hitoka never wanted anyone else to see that face. She kicked her legs some more and pretended for a moment that no one else had.

Kiyoko took off her own shoes and socks and said, “Mind if I join you?”

Hitoka shrugged.

They were silent for a moment again, the only sound the splashes of the water. 

“This is nice,” Kiyoko said, and Hitoka laughed, the sound coming out harsher than she’d intended.

“I’ve never spent more than a couple of months in one place,” Hitoka admitted. “Not that I can remember. My mom would move us around a lot, I never really asked why. Probably not-quite-legal reasons.”

Kiyoko chuckles, and some of the tension leaves Hitoka. Just a little.

“So I guess,” she continued. “I learned to think of people as home, instead of places. Mom, for one. And Tadashi. His family didn’t always move with us, but he seemed to be there more often than not. And once we both left home, we decided we’d always stick together.”

She played with the grass on the bank as she talked, absentmindedly ripping it out of the ground and dropping it into the river. “It was nice.”

“I just didn’t realize how nice it must be to have a whole community of people you’ve known your whole life. You all...you all seem to be such good friends...” oh no, Hitoka could feel her speech getting away from her, how was she going to finish this. She trailed off and buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

“Knowing someone for a long time doesn’t always mean they know you well,” Kiyoko said simply.

While they were sitting there, Hitoka had, bit by bit, moved closer to the other girl, so that their thighs were touching. She turned her head towards Kiyoko, and saw that Kiyoko, too, was looking at her. 

Kiyoko’s dark hair shone in the moonlight, and the light glinted off her glasses frames. 

They were so close Hitoka could feel her breath, warm and strangely sweet.

She leaned in and—

Something splashed in the water next to them, soaking Hitoka from head to toe. Kiyoko was left mostly dry. The something was Shouyou, because of course.

“SHOUYOU NO,” Suga was yelling, sliding down the thin stair-rail after him. Daichi and Oikawa and Iwaizumi were following closely, expressing varying degrees of concern.

Hitoka jumped up and back, heart pounding.  _ Did she just. Did she almost. _ Whatever, she could freak out over it later. Back to more familiar life problems.

“Shouyou Hinata,  _ what in the world are you doing? _ ” she yelled.

“The water looked really nice but it’s actually a lot colder than I thought it was and now I’m cold! This was a mistake!” He was still fully clothed, too. The river turned out to be fairly shallow near the bank, only going up to Shouyou’s chest, so at least she didn’t need to worry about rescuing him for once, but also.

“Of course,” Hitoka said. To everyone else, she bowed slightly and said, “I’m sorry about him.”

“Apology accepted,” Oikawa said, only to be elbowed in the stomach by Iwaizumi.

Daichi and Iwaizumi pulled the boy out and had a brief argument as to who should carry Shouyou back to the inn.

“I can walk!” Shouyou protested. “I’m not dying, I’m just cold and wet!”

“Yes, but they like showing off,” Suga whispered to him. Shouyou nodded, eyes wide with understanding. Then proceeded to run up the stairs anyway.

Oikawa and Suga exchanged looks of disappointment. And Hitoka...

Hitoka found herself unable to make eye contact with Kiyoko, yet again.

 

“You’ve been acting kind of weird tonight,” Shouyou pointed out when they were both getting ready for bed. “Are you okay?”

Hitoka laughed. “Everyone keeps asking me that lately.”

“Well, are you?” Shouyou insisted. Hitoka looked away.

“I will be,” she said. Even though it took her a long time to fall asleep that night.

 

She got a letter from Tadashi at breakfast the next morning, as per usual.

 

_ Hi Hitoka, you’re never gonna believe what just happened. So, Prince Kei, the one who’s been kind of holding me hostage, decided that I’m gonna marry him. He literally just walked into my room and said “We’re getting married.” Like, what even. Anyway, I don’t think I can really say no to this, but you’re important to me and also I was engaged to you first, so I would appreciate your approval before anything happens. I hope you get here soon so we can talk about this in person. With love, Tadashi. _

_ p.s. tell Hinata I said hi. _

 

Hitoka read the letter and said, softly, “What the fuck.” 

Shouyou tapped her on the shoulder and she passed him the paper in silence. He read it slowly, moving his lips as he did so. “Huh,” he said at last.

“Huh indeed,” Hitoka muttered. She sipped her coffee, wondering if she was still asleep. The coffee did taste too good to be true. Although, she’d heard somewhere that it was impossible to read words in dreams, so probably not.

Suga set a plate with a hot, flaky almond croissant down in front of her. “What’s up?”

“Hinata,” she said, waving a hand, and Shouyou obediently passed the letter to Suga.

Suga read it. “Aw, Hitoka,” he said, sounding so genuinely sympathetic it almost made her feel guilty about exposing him to her problems. “So, your true love is getting married to someone else, and you need to ride in on his wedding day to get him back, like the heroic knight you are?”

“If only it were that simple,” she sighed. “Except... I don’t think he really is my true love. Like. He’s my best friend. But...” She bit into the croissant and chewed thoughtfully. It was, of course, delicious. “I didn’t like. Feel things. I didn’t realize True Love doesn’t usually feel like friendship.”

Suga put his elbows on the table and looked at her sideways. “Until...?” he prompted.

“Until...” She could feel herself blushing again, and hid her face in her hands.

Suga made that extremely sympathetic sound again. Hitoka kind of wanted to die.

“What does it mean, when you never wanted to kiss anyone before, and you do now?” Hitoka mumbled into the table, realizing even as she said it that it was a stupid question.

Suga looked at the letter again. “It seems like Tadashi’s feeling some of the same things. He doesn’t seem super eager to get married right away, but he’s also not begging you to save him, so.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “I don’t really know the full story, of course, but I hope you get a chance to talk things out with all involved parties soon.”

“Oh, and Kiyoko mentioned she was going to stop by here after breakfast and show your whole group around town,” he added as he walked back to the kitchen.

Hitoka squinted at him suspiciously. Suga winked. She glared at her croissant, because glaring at Sugawara Koushi felt too harsh, somehow.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi came down to breakfast right as Hitoka was finishing her second, probably unnecessary cup of coffee. The letter was still lying on the table in front of her, face up for all the world to see.

Oikawa picked it up and held it up to the light. For a terrible moment, she worried he was actually going to read it out loud to the entire inn. It wasn’t as crowded as it had been at dinner the night before, but there were still enough strangers around that Hitoka would probably be willing to fight him if he did that, sworn allegiance to the Yachi family be damned.

He didn’t read it out loud, though, just scanned the paper quickly and whispered something to Iwaizumi.

“At last, the puzzle is complete,” Oikawa declared. He grinned at Hitoka, in a way that felt mildly threatening.

“...What puzzle,” she asked warily.

“The puzzle as to why you and Kiyoko are still dancing around each other when you both  _ obviously _ —speak of the Devil!” Kiyoko pushed open the door of the inn, wearing a dress Hitoka hadn’t seen her wear before, and looking more comfortable than Hitoka’s ever seen her. Such is the power of coming home, Hitoka thought.

“Good morning,” Kiyoko said.

“Good morning,” Oikawa said. Hitoka definitely did not like the look on his face. He folded up the letter into a tiny square and dropped it on Hitoka’s empty plate, so Hitoka could choose whether or not she wanted anyone else to read it. Which was surprisingly nice of him.

“Miss Kiyoko!” Shouyou waved to her.

“Hinata,” she said, nodding. “Glad to see you didn’t get sick after last night’s adventure.”

“Idiots can’t catch colds,” said Oikawa, and Shouyou pouted at him.

“Anyway,” Shouyou continued, “Can we go see your house today?”

Kiyoko smiled. “That’s why I came over here, yes.”

“Kiyoko’s house is the nicest witch’s cottage I’ve ever been in,” Daichi contributed.

“It’s the only witch’s cottage you’ve ever been in,” Suga added, elbowing him. Daichi rolled his eyes.

The witch turned slightly pink at that. “Let’s just go. I’ll see you two later.”

They walked down the main street. In the daylight, Hitoka could see that the narrow row houses were vividly painted in bright colors, and the dirt road was lined with trees and flowers. It was, in fact, an extremely pretty town.

“We should probably get going after this thing, though,” Hitoka mentioned. “I want to get to the Northern Castle as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Kiyoko asked.

“We have to crash a wedding!” Shouyou blurted out. 

“We’re not crashing it if we’re invited,” Hitoka snapped, though she wasn’t sure if that letter really counted as an invitation. To Kiyoko, she just said, “Tadashi sent another letter.”

“I see.” They reached the end of the main street, where it intersected with another road in a T shape, and turned right. The road turned out to be more of a path, tapering off into sand and grass after just a few hundred feet. Kiyoko’s cottage was a tiny little building at the end of that path, surrounded on all sides by a well-maintained vegetable garden. It had a thatched roof and looked approximately the same size as a closet.

“...Are you sure we can all fit in there?” Iwaizumi said.

Kiyoko grinned, the same way she grinned after completely destroying Akaashi at cards. “It’s bigger on the inside.”

Inside, it was about the same size as a normal cottage, which meant Oikawa didn’t have to bend down to avoid hitting the ceiling and there was plenty of room for everyone. There were piles of books everywhere, neatly stacked on shelves and propping up a table with legs of uneven length. Dried herbs dangled from the rafters, filling the space with a pleasant sort of floral scent. It didn’t seem messy, just full. She’d obviously tidied up before inviting people into her home. Various knick-knacks from her travels served as decorations on top of the shelves and piles of books in a way that seemed haphazard, but cozy. There was a piece of fabric hanging on a wall, black with a white graphic of a bird and the word “FLY.”

It felt, Hitoka decided, like a place that could not belong to anyone but Kiyoko Shimizu.

Kiyoko was obviously not used to leading tours of her home, but she was doing her best. “This is my kitchen. This is the sitting room. My bedroom’s behind this door. Uh.”

“What’s this?” Shouyou asked, picking up a little gold ball mounted on a stand. 

“Don’t just pick things up without asking, Hinata,” Hitoka whispered, cringing already. 

But Kiyoko didn’t seem to mind, she just blinked and said, “Last Witch Trials, I won that for best new spell, or something like that. It’s not important.”

“What do you mean, it’s not important? You won something! You should be proud of yourself!” Hitoka burst out. Everyone looked at her, and she flushed. “Don’t talk yourself down like that, you know?” Looking at the trophy more closely, she could see it was just gold-plated, but still pretty.

“I don’t need awards or trophies to know I’m good at what I do,” Kiyoko said softly. Hitoka could feel her blushing intensify.

“Hey, Kiyoko, what’s this thing?” Oikawa interrupted, holding up what looked like a folded up wooden umbrella with an eye on it. Hitoka sighed with relief.

“That’s something I picked up in the Southern Seaport.  It’s not magical or anything. I just thought it looked interesting.”

After they’d gone through about a dozen random interesting objects in Kiyoko’s cottage, Hitoka decided they should probably go.

“Kiyoko, are you sure you want to come with us? You seem so happy to be back home,” Hitoka asked. She had to ask. She would rather leave Kiyoko happy than watch her be miserable.

“It’s nice to be back, I guess. But...” Kiyoko looked into her eyes, and Hitoka felt her heartbeat stop. “It’d be nicer to keep traveling with you.”

Hitoka’s face was on fire, and it was suddenly impossible to keep herself from smiling. “Oh....okay, then. Good. Um.”

Behind her, she could hear Oikawa whispering to Iwaizumi, “They’re so cute it almost makes me want to throw up,” and Iwaizumi telling him to “Just shut the fuck up, Trashikawa.” But whatever.

 

“So like, how do you want to do this?” Oikawa asked her, when they’d reached the Tsukishima castle. “Ride in on horseback all dramatic, like a hero? In disguise as monks? You have to make it good in case someone wants to write a ballad about this moment later.”

Hitoka winced. “I don’t think I want a ballad written about this moment later. How about just walking in politely?”

“You’re no fun,” Oikawa complained, but they all tied up their horses at a convenient distance away and walked onto the castle grounds. The drawbridge was down, and people were ambling around, which meant the wedding was probably happening soon.

Hitoka had made an effort, and put on one of the nicer dresses she’d gotten from her mom today. It was a little rumpled from traveling, yes, but she’d braided her hair up in that way Tadashi knew she only did for special occasions, so he’d know she had Tried.

“And who might you be?” The guard asked them.

Oikawa squinted at him. “Hey, I know you. You’re that kid who was rude to me the last time I was here!”

“Mr. Oikawa?” The guard said. “And Mr. Iwaizumi? This...sure is a surprise.” He consulted the scroll in front of him. “However, I don’t see you on this list, so if you don’t mind—”

Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi by the arm and shoved straight past the guard. “Fight me, Tobio!” He shouted as he disappeared down a side corridor.

Tobio watched him leave and muttered, “Oikawa has a terrible personality, but I guess it can’t be helped. He probably still thinks of himself as royalty.” He consulted his scroll again. “Name?”

“Hitoka Yachi, Shouyou Hinata, Kiyoko Shimizu,” Hitoka rattled off. She stood on her tiptoes to read the paper over his shoulder. There weren’t as many names on it as she was expecting for a royal wedding, for whatever reason.

Tobio seemed to relax a fraction once he found their names in the middle of the list. “Yamaguchi’s guests, right? Welcome. Down the hall, third door on the left. Um, nice to meet you, I guess. I’m Kageyama, head of the Tsukishima Royal Guard.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Hitoka replied. He seemed nice enough. 

“Why do you look so grumpy all the time?” Shouyou demanded. “You’re greeting people, shouldn’t you be smiling?”

Tobio’s scowl deepened, and Hitoka pulled on Shouyou’s cape to drag him behind her. “We do not have time for this, Shouyou.”

They found Tadashi in a large dressing-room, surrounded by servants fixing his (still slightly longer than ideal) hair and straightening his (fashionable yet inexplicably orange) suit. He was looking in the full-length mirror when Hitoka walked in. Or, stopped walking at the door and stared.

 

“Please don’t cover up my freckles, I like them,” he was saying to the guy waving a powder brush around the area of his face. “A-and Kei said he likes them too, so.”

Hitoka smiled, remembering how much Tadashi used to hate his freckles when they were kids, and how much time she’d spent convincing him they weren’t ugly. She knew he’d gotten over it, but sometimes, she worried.

“I can even out your complexion with the foundation and then draw your freckles back on over it,” the guy replied.

“But like...why...” 

The whole scene was so endearingly  _ Tadashi.  _ Hitoka felt something in her chest clench, as though the full force of how much she’d missed having him around these past few months had suddenly hit her all at once.

“You’re trembling,” Shouyou whispered, quietly for once.

“I know,” Hitoka whispered back.

And then took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Why are you knocking?” Shouyou hissed. “The door’s open, you dork.”

“You’re my squire, you are not allowed to call me a dork.  _ You’re _ a dork.” He did have a point though. She just...didn’t want to sneak up on him, or something.

Shouyou rolled his eyes and took a few steps forward. “PRESENTING LADY HITOKA YACHI OF THE WHITE LILY, KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN REALMS!”

“ _ Shouyou Hinata oh my fucking God. _ ”

“You wanted an introduction,” he retorted, completely unrepentant. 

It had the desired effect, at least. Tadashi whirled around, despite his make-up artists imploring him to stop moving and let them work. “Hitoka?”

“Hey,” she said softly.

“And Shouyou! And you must be Kiyoko, right?” He beamed. “It’s good to see you all.”

Kiyoko just nodded. She was probably feeling extra shy right now, Hitoka thought.

“Most of the people here are Kei’s guests and important noble people, so it’s really nice to see someone I actually know,” Tadashi added. 

“Sir, please turn around so I can fix your contouring,” the make-up artist said.

“What is contouring and why do I need it in the first place?” He looked like he wanted to just turn around and walk away, but was being held captive by his persistent sense of obligation. 

“Just hold still, sir.” Tadashi sighed, but did as he was told.

Well, now was as good a time as any. Hitoka cleared her throat. “So..” she began.

“So,” Tadashi said.

“You’re...getting married.”

“Guess so.” He grinned. 

“Are you happy?” Hitoka asked. 

Tadashi tried to look at the ceiling, but the make-up artist guy pushed his head back down and hissed, “Stop! Moving!” So he stared straight ahead instead, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so,” he said, after a moment. “Are you? Because if you don’t want me to marry Prince Kei, I won’t.”

“Does he make you happy?” Hitoka asked again. “Because if he’s a jerk to you I’m obligated to put my foot down. As your friend, not as your ex-fiancée.”

Tadashi laughed again. Hitoka thought he laughed more now than he used to, but maybe she’d just forgotten. “He’s a jerk to most people, but not to me. He says I make him want to be a better person. He’s weird and kind of frustrating sometimes, but I like it.”

Hitoka nodded slowly. For some reason, her shoulders felt lighter, and she felt calmer than she had since before all this started happening. “You know,” she said, “I don’t think we ever really wanted to marry each other in the first place.”

Tadashi was finally released by the make-up people, and he walked over to where Hitoka was standing and wrapped her in a hug.

God, she’d really missed Tadashi’s hugs. 

“We’re going to visit each other all the time, though, right? Because I still want us to be friends. Despite everything,” Hitoka whispered into his shoulder.

“Of course,” he whispered.

“Anyway,” Tadashi said, pulling back. “You still haven’t really introduced me to Kiyoko! I’m Tadashi Yamaguchi, it’s a pleasure,” he said, sticking a hand out for Kiyoko to shake.

“Kiyoko Shimizu,” she said, barely audible. “I’m a witch.” Then, she looked Tadashi in the eye, and continued in a much firmer voice, “and I want to date Hitoka.”

Shouyou, standing behind Tadashi, yelled “Ooooooooooh.” Because he was a child.

There was a beat of embarrassed silence. Hitoka, her face tomato-red, finally blurted out, “You could’ve told me first, you know.”

Shouyou burst out laughing.

“You don’t need to ask my permission to date her,” Tadashi said, looking amused.

“I know, but I thought it’d be polite to do so anyway.” She turned to Hitoka. “So, do you want to...date...and stuff?” Kiyoko’s voice wavered, and Hitoka never knew Kiyoko could sound that uncertain.

“Yeah,” she breathed out. “I mean. Yes. Let’s. Date. And Stuff.”

Shouyou jumped up to an inhuman height and yelled, “Hooray!” Tadashi applauded. 

Kageyama stuck his head in the door and told Tadashi it was go time.

Tadashi beamed at them all again, and Hitoka was struck again by how happy he seemed. “Let’s go!” 

So they went. 

After the wedding, which was beautiful and touching and made everyone cry at least a little bit, Shouyou told Hitoka he wasn’t going to be her squire anymore.

“I’m really sorry!” he said, bowing deeply. “But there’s an opening in the Tsukishima Royal Guard, and Kageyama says I have what it takes!”

“I didn’t say that,” Kageyama interjected, looking annoyed. “I just said it requires a lot of the same skills as being a knight, which you’re training for, so you could try it out. Maybe.”

“Yeah, so I have what it takes!”

Hitoka smiled. “Go ahead, Hinata. Do what makes you happy.” It was the day of a wedding, after all, and everyone involved deserved to be happy.

If she wanted to keep doing Knight Things, she’d need to find herself a new squire. But Hitoka had been a knight for so long, she kind of wanted to just...be Hitoka, for a while. 

Kiyoko came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hi,” she said. Softly as ever.

Hitoka flushed. “Hi,” she squeaked.

They were in the Royal Garden for the reception, so Hitoka hid her embarrassment by pretending to examine a rosebush.

“Where are you going to go now?” 

Hitoka looked out into the distance. It was a clear, sunny day, and beyond the flat green plains of the Northern Kingdom she could see blue mountains far away.

She looked back at Kiyoko, and took her hand. “Anywhere, so long as it’s with you.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> [ tumblr ](https://cubistemoji.tumblr.com/) [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/mashazart/)  
>  thanks for reading!


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